From Latin America to Europe: the impacts of changing geopolitical and national contexts on civil society, communities and the environment in lithium extraction

The geopolitical race for critical minerals – deemed essential for the energy transition, but also increasingly demanded by the digital sector and the military industry – and the political shift to (far)-right governments in South America, such as in Chile, Bolivia and Argentina, encourage incentives for large-scale private investments in the extractive sector with limited public oversight, citizen participation and limited benefits for the countries in the long-term. Human rights and environmental safeguards are weakened and civic space as well as budgets for environmental and Indigenous Peoples’ protection are shrinking. This threatens fragile ecosystems and territories inhabited by local and Indigenous communities, such as the High Andean Wetlands or the Amazon, and human rights and environmental defenders in the minerals sector, with Latin America being the most dangerous region for environmental defenders. The region is a major supplier of copper, lithium and other critical minerals to the European Union. The latter ranks among the regions with the highest per capita consumption of minerals worldwide. Against this background, the discussion examines the implications of recent political developments in Chile and Bolivia and the major restructuring of the State in Argentina as well as the role of the EU in the context of its current raw materials, trade and investment policies.

The panel brings together policy perspectives from Europe with the experience of civil society organisations working with Indigenous communities to protect the High Andean Wetlands and the livelihoods of its communities and addresses the following questions:

●       How are Indigenous communities defending their territories in the High Andean Wetlands and how are civil society organisations responding to increasingly shrinking civic space and democratic participation?

●       What role does the EU play in the region through its raw materials, trade and investment policies, including Global Gateway?

●       What impact do these policies have in the context of mineral extraction and what safeguards are in place as environmental and human rights protections are weakened?

Wednesday, 30 September, 4 p.m.-5:30 p.m. Central European Time // 11 a.m. Argentina/Chile // 10 a.m. Bolivia

Languages: English and Spanish with simultaneous translation

Speakers:

• Udo Bullmann (S&D), memeber of the European Parliament
• Ramón Balcázar, Fundación Tantí, Chile
• Vivian Lagrava, Empodérate, Bolivia
• Teresa Hoffmann, FARN, Argentina

Moderation: Kristina Stier, Brot für die Welt

Organisations: EU Raw Materials Coalition, Alliance for Andean Wetlands, Brot für die Welt, FARN, Fundación Tantí, Empodérate, FIMA, Formando Rutas, CEDIB, Defensa Ambiental, AIDA, Wetlands International

Link: https://ewde.guestoo.de/public/event/c04a87eb-59c6-4991-a9b6-d030903e9b2a?lang=de