This panel was part of the Second International Conference on Environmental Peacebuilding (February 1-4, 2022).
The promise of a low carbon future is built on the premise of widespread adoption of mineral-intensive “green technologies”. The demand for green technologies is expected to increase in concert with the demand for critical energy minerals such as cobalt and lithium, driving up mineral prices and may attract significant investments in new mines. The minerals sector, particularly in countries with poor governance, is often associated with environmental security risks. The purpose of this session is to highlight the environmental peacebuilding and environmental security issues associated with a potential global shift towards green technologies. Possible examples of topics of interest include anticipating the geography of future mineral-associated environmental security dynamics and identifying lessons from development programs on formalization, traceability, and due diligence of mineral supply-chains. The goal of this session is to: 1) Initiate a discourse on the future mineral-related conflicts within the community of practice; and 2) Identify gaps in our shared understanding for future research and on-the-ground programs.
Kimberly Thompson, Chair, United States Agency for International Development
"Resource Conflicts in the Global South" by Moisés Arce, Tulane University
"Entrenching Inequalities: The Green Energy Transition, Cobalt Mining and Social Conflict in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC)" by Joanne Lebert, IMPACT
"The Risks of Decarbonization: An Agenda for Understanding a Low Carbon Future in Fragile States" by Benjamin Spatz, Tufts University
"Do More Good: Conflict Sensitivity and Measuring Social Good in Climate Supply Chains?" by Mike Jobbins, Search for Common Ground
Kendra Dupuy, Fridtjof Nansens Institutt
