Earthworks: Political Geology in the Age of Critical Minerals

Earthworks: Political Geology in the Age of Critical Minerals

Meeting Net Zero commitments is leading to new social and environmental crises. Mining to create renewable energy technologies such as wind turbines, solar panels, rechargeable batteries, and electric vehicles is driving geopolitical competition and illegal mining. Research suggests that reaching the EU’s climate goals will expose up to 89,000 African miners to forms of modern slavery. Moreover, an estimated three hundred new mines are required to open globally in the next decade to meet carbon reduction targets.

Critical mineral exploitation is an immensely complex challenge to the success of a just transition. My recent work seeks to respond to this challenge by developing the first global political geology framework for understanding the role of critical minerals in a decarbonizing world. In this talk, I’ll share some of my recent work with artists and artisanal critical mineral miners in Indonesia. I’ll also explore some thinking around ideas of “geosolidarities” and what it might mean to frame our moment, or indeed the modern period, as an “age of critical minerals."