{"id":51394,"date":"2019-12-01T20:04:38","date_gmt":"2019-12-01T19:04:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/edu.danwatch.dk\/?post_type=undersgelse&p=51394"},"modified":"2019-12-01T20:23:52","modified_gmt":"2019-12-01T19:23:52","slug":"much-of-the-worlds-lithium-is-being-extracted-from-indigenous-peoples-territories-against-their-will","status":"publish","type":"undersgelse","link":"https:\/\/edu.danwatch.dk\/en\/undersoegelse\/much-of-the-worlds-lithium-is-being-extracted-from-indigenous-peoples-territories-against-their-will\/","title":{"rendered":"Much of the world\u2019s lithium is being extracted from indigenous peoples\u2019 territories against their will"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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A Danwatch investigation<\/h6>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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Much of the world\u2019s lithium is being extracted from indigenous peoples\u2019 territories against their will<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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The ponds on these drone shots are only a small share of the total lithium extraction area which covers around 80 square kilometres of the Atacama’s surface.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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On the same October morning that around one million people took to the streets of the Chilean capital Santiago, members of the indigenous communities of the Atacama Desert blocked the roads leading to nearby lithium-extraction sites.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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About the investigation<\/h2>\n

Danwatch has been to Chile to investigate the country\u2019s growing lithium extraction industry. In the process, we have interviewed numerous scientists, companies, politicians and the people who live closest to the extraction sites.<\/p>\n

We have reviewed the mining companies\u2019 impact studies as well as the few independent research papers on the topic. We especially base our investigation on a 2019 study on lithium mining in Chile by researchers from Arizona State University\u2019s School of Sustainability.<\/p>\n

The investigation was supported by the EU-funded project Make ICT Fair and published in collaboration with Setem.<\/p>\n

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Waving Wiphala flags \u2014 the colorful emblem commonly used to represent the indigenous peoples of the Andes \u2014 they prevented trucks from using the regular roads to transport lithium throughout the day. As in the rest of the country, many of them held signs protesting the Chilean government. But distinctive for the Atacama, some also carried banners criticising the two lithium mining companies that operate in the area: the US firm Albemarle and the Chilean company SQM.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe hope to continue protesting until the state hears us and attends our legitimate demands,\u201d Sergio Cubillos, president of the Atacama People\u2019s Council, which represents 18 indigenous communities, told Reuters.<\/p>\n

The nationwide rallies against inequality and the absolute power of the government coincide with the views of many representatives of the Atacama\u2019s indigenous Likananta\u00ed communities, who claim their position on lithium extraction has been ignored for decades.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe conflict on lithium extraction is really about the fact that the local Likananta\u00ed population does not have any influence on the development of their territory. In this way, the conflict is very much connected to the nationwide protests for greater democratization and economic redistribution\u201d, says Maria Cariola, an anthropologist working for the Latin American Observatory of Environmental Conflicts, a Chilean NGO.<\/p>\n

Ongoing protests<\/h4>\n

Skyrocketing global demand for lithium in batteries used in electronics and electric cars has recently seen the Chilean authorities pave the way for even more lithium extraction.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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The Wiphala emblem and a Chilean flag on a Chakana cross in the Atacama Desert. The Wiphala is commonly used to represent some of the indigenous peoples of the Andes in today’s Chile, Bolivia, Peru, Ecuador, Argentina and Colombia. The Chakana cross is especially known from the Incas. The Atcama was conquered and ruled by the Incas in the 15th century until the Spanish colonizers annexed the area under Spanish rule in 1556.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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background<\/h1>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t

Is there any such thing as \u2018green mining\u2019? <\/h2>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
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In 2019 the Nobel Prize in Chemistry was handed to John Goodenough, Stanley Whittingham and Akira Yoshino for the development of the lithium-ion battery - amongst other things, because it enables electric vehicles and mega batteries <\/a>that can \u201cstore significant amounts of energy from solar and wind power, making possible a fossil fuel-free society.\u201d<\/p>

Such a transition to low-carbon technologies however fuels new demands for particular minerals used in for example solar panels, wind turbines and batteries.<\/p>

Many scientists say that more mineral extraction for renewables is without a doubt preferable<\/a> to a continued dependence on fossil fuels.<\/p>

Nevertheless, the costs of extracting new groups of minerals for renewables become more evident as global demands rise.<\/p>

Lithium is mined in various ways around the world, each with appertaining risks and drawbacks. Out of the top five lithium producing companies, all five have human rights allegations against them<\/a> according to the Business and Human Rights Resource Center.<\/p>

In Australia and North America, lithium is extracted from rock but requires the use of chemicals which have led to pollution of water resources<\/a> in the US. In Tibet, a Chinese lithium mine has caused environmental pollution resulting in fish dying in nearby rivers<\/a>.<\/p>

In Chile, Argentina and Bolivia, lithium is extracted from subterranean brine deposits. The main environmental problem in this regard is the massive use of water resources from arid areas.<\/p>

While scientists are optimistic about finding alternatives to other harmful components of lithium-ion batteries, such as cobalt, alternatives to lithium seem to have long prospects<\/a>. A lot of research is however currently done on the potential reuse of lithium-ion batteries. Only very few rechargeable batteries are being recycled today.<\/p>

Sources: Nobelprize.org, Business and Human Rights Resource Center, The Verge, Washington Post, Wired, Friends of the Earth, Danwatch<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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Discontent with lithium mining has rumbled on for years among the area\u2019s estimated 20,000 Likananta\u00ed people, but protests have flared in the past two years in particular. In January 2018, the Chilean economic development agency CORFO signed a contract with SQM that enabled the company to triple its lithium extraction over the coming years and extended its mining access to the Atacama until 2030. Though CORFO\u2019s executive vice president said the deal was struck after consulting some of the communities that live nearest the extraction sites, the weeks of demonstrations, roadblocks and even hunger strikes initiated by leaders of the indigenous groups tell another story.<\/p>

An expansion of mining licenses on their territory was understood as a major encroachment on the indigenous peoples\u2019 rights, Sergio Cubillos tells Danwatch.<\/p>

\u201cThe lithium mining has a massive impact on us \u2014 both our local environment and ecosystems as well as our culture and the social life we have always been practicing\u201d, he says.<\/p>

Three court cases<\/h4>

Since January 2018, the Atacama People\u2019s Council has sought to block the expansion of mining licenses at both Chile\u2019s Appeals Court and its High Court. And it has taken the matter to the Inter-American Court of Human Rights, where a case is currently being prepared.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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Almost 40 percent of the global lithium supply has come from Chile over the past 20 years, and, as Danwatch can reveal<\/a>, it ends up in some of the most popular electronics and electric cars.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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Vladimir Jorge Reyes from the Coyo community says that families are leaving the area because of the water scarcity. \u201cWe are not against progress\u201d, he says. \u201cBut we think the companies should exploit the resources - our resources - in a more responsible way\u201d<\/figcaption>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/figure>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t
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\u201cThe race for attracting new investments, pushed by the EV market growth in Europe and the US, is putting both human rights and the ecological value of the salt flats in second place. It is really no wonder the affected people are protesting\u201d, says Ram\u00f3n Morales Balc\u00e1zar from the Plurinational Observatory of Andean Salt Flats, a network of people from the Atacama communities, NGOs and researchers in the region.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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