Necessary debates: Fundeps held a discussion on the Energy Transition in Argentina

The event organized by Fundeps (Foundation for the Development of Sustainable Policies), CAUCE Foundation (Environmental Culture – Ecological Cause), FARN (Environment and Natural Resources Foundation) and Siglo 21 University, held on November 11, was a meeting of analysis and debate on the main challenges facing Argentina in the context of the global energy transition.

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The event, which was held in a discussion format, was organized into thematic panels, one of which was: “The role of China, multilateral banking and transnational corporations in the Argentine energy transition” with the participation of Dr. Virginia Busilli and Lic. Maitén Fuma (UCC), Valeria Enderle (CAUCE Foundation), Francisco Zanichelli (UNC) and Carolina Juaneda (Bank Information Center), moderated by Matías Cena Trebucq (FARN). The second panel, “The challenges of lithium exploitation in Argentina in a context of investment incentives and environmental deregulation”, was hosted by Edgardo Litvinoff (Red RUIDO), María Laura Carrizo Morales (Fundeps), Leandro Gómez (FARN), Federico Trebucq (UES21, CONICET), moderated by Paula Hernández (Fundeps).

On this occasion, Fundeps also presented the report “The exploitation of lithium in the high Andean salt flats: a socio-environmental analysis based on the Argentine case”, which aims to comprehensively address the different conceptual, legislative and discursive perspectives and components that intervene in this context of global energy transition. It also addresses the consequent acceleration in the demand for lithium in our country and region for an informed discussion.

Not every energy transition is a fair energy transition

The race to control the supply chain of so-called critical minerals, or minerals for the energy transition, opens a new chapter in the global geopolitical dispute. Countries in North America, Europe, and Asia, particularly China, are competing not only to dominate the technologies of the final products, but also for access to the deposits of these minerals. At the same time, it is evident that the search for developing “green solutions” is the politically correct narrative today, but is there really progress towards a fair energy transition in social and environmental terms? What roles do the global south and the global north adopt in this new “green” dynamic? What place do communities have in this process? These were some of the questions addressed in the discussion.

Argentina is today the world’s fourth largest producer of lithium and has approximately 50 projects in different phases. With the focus on generating foreign currency required to repay the external debt, provincial and national governments prioritize these investments without carrying out the corresponding studies to determine whether the operations can be carried out without causing irreversible damage to the environment and the communities that have lived there for hundreds of years. The loss of biodiversity, ways of life, knowledge and Andean cultures not only turns these territories into sacrifice zones for the hyper-consumerist model of the Global North, which does not seek to reduce its demand for minerals and nature, but also reinforces existing inequalities and blocks the possibility of thinking about a paradigm shift that places the care of the lives of people and ecosystems at the center, and that teaches us to live within planetary limits.

Undoubtedly, the consequences of the increased demand for lithium extraction and production in this “green race” generate debates of a social, environmental, legal, discursive and ideological nature, as the different meanings and objectives of the different actors involved come into dispute. During the more than two hours that the discussion lasted, experts and representatives of civil society, academia and journalists from Córdoba and other provinces debated and exchanged their opinions on the impact of lithium mining on the environment, the economy and local communities, making it clear that not every energy transition is a fair energy transition and that the extractivist logic reproduces the historical roles of the countries of the Global North and South and also replicates extractivist practices and human rights violations of local and indigenous communities, while reinforcing the vicious cycle of continuing to exploit nature.

 

More Information

• The exploitation of lithium in the high Andean salt flats: a socio-environmental analysis based on the Argentine case– Fundeps (2024)
• Litio: el sinsentido de buscar mitigar el cambio climático a costa de la misma naturaleza y las comunidades locales – Infobae (2023)
• Litio – Entre el norte y el sur global, saqueo de los bienes comunes y transición energética. El Caso del litio en Jujuy.

 

Contact

Gonzalo Roza, gon.roza@fundeps.org