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.
Speakers:
- Representative DG INTPA (tbc)
- MEP Udo Bullmann, S&D
- Ramón Balcázar, Fundación Tantí, Chile
- Vivian Lagrava, Empodérate, Bolivia
- Teresa Hoffmann, FARN, Argentina
Moderation: Kristina Stier, Brot für die Welt
Organisers: 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
Event format: Webinar (1,5 hrs)
Languages: English and Spanish with simultaneous translation
Date and time: Sept. 30, 4pm - 5:30pm CEST
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