Metals in the Digital and Energy Transition

There is no doubt that the climate crisis demands a transition to renewable energy sources. The 2015 Paris Agreement was a historic milestone, at least on paper, in the reduction of emissions and the promotion of renewable energy. But certain issues have yet to be fully explored, issues related to the metals required for the green and digital technologies on which the energy transition is based.

Can we guarantee a sufficient supply of metals to make the ecological transition possible? Where and how are those metals obtained? What are the environmental and social implications of their extraction, processing and subsequent return as waste? To what extent are human health and environmental protection guaranteed in mining zones? How will these strategic raw materials alter the global geopolitical framework? What role will the European Union play in this new context? Is it willing to shoulder the environmental costs of the energy transition?

Although answering these questions is far from easy, we cannot afford to put off the debate on how to conduct the unavoidable energy transition. If we ignore or avoid talking about its negative ramifications, we will repeat the mistakes of the past and fail to achieve a truly green transition.

This series of talks aims to facilitate a vital discussion of this transition and its challenges, benefits and consequences.

Coordinated by Green European Foundation (GEF), in partnership with Fundación Transición Verde and La Casa Encendida.