Don’t Throw Caution to the Wind: In the Green Energy Transition, Not All Critical Minerals Will Be Goldmines

Authors

Perrine Toledano, Columbia Law School, Columbia Center on Sustainable InvestmentFollow
Martin Dietrich Brauch, Columbia Law School, Columbia Center on Sustainable InvestmentFollow
Solina Kennedy, Columbia Law School, Columbia Center on Sustainable InvestmentFollow
Howard Mann, International Institute for Sustainable DevelopmentFollow

Document Type

Report/Policy Paper

Publication Date

7-2020

Abstract

The green energy transition will be exceedingly mineral intensive. Manufacturing solar panels, wind turbine and batteries to power cleaner energies is set to significantly increase the demand for co-called “critical” minerals. Such a forecast prompts high expectations in mineral-rich countries and suggests promising opportunities for developing countries.

However, the projects to increase the primary extraction of critical minerals rest on bullish forecasts and uncertain terrain due to a number of factors explored in the paper that threaten to leave these investments obsolete and economically stranded.

Governments, international actors, and mining advocates seeking to optimize the value of green energy mineral reserve should heed caution when pursuing and promoting the mining of critical minerals. We provide specific recommendations in the paper.

Disciplines

Environmental Law | International Law | Land Use Law | Law | Natural Resources Law | Oil, Gas, and Mineral Law

Recommended Citation

Perrine Toledano, Martin D. Brauch, Solina Kennedy & Howard Mann, Don’t Throw Caution to the Wind: In the Green Energy Transition, Not All Critical Minerals Will Be Goldmines, (2020).
Available at: https://scholarship.law.columbia.edu/sustainable_investment_staffpubs/7