The contested nature of energy transitions: local communities’ interactions with lithium mining in an Argentinian resource frontier

ESCOSTEGUY, MELISA; HUFTY, MARC; DIAZ PAZ, WALTER; CLAVIJO, ARACELI; SEGHEZZO, LUCAS

Kristiansand

Workshop; BATJUST: Sustainable development for whom? Justice, transparency and geopolitics in lithium-ion battery value chains linking Latin America, Europe and East Asia; 2022

Universidad de Agder

Lithium has become a critical element for lithium-ion battery technologies and its demand is expected to increase rapidly in coming years. In Argentina, the fourth largest lithium producing country, extraction occurs in the high Andean salt flats located in the Puna region. Although lithium mining is portrayed globally as a necessary step towards climate change mitigation, local injustices concerning social and environmental issues are affecting local communities living near extraction sites. Drawing from political ecology and the energy justice framework, and relying on ethnographic methods during three periods of fieldwork in 2019, 2021, and 2022, this paper explores how local communities understand, contest, promote, or take advantage of lithium mining. Our results illustrate how local communities interact with lithium mining may vary from conflict to agreement and consensus. These interactions are shaped by previous experiences with mining companies and the state and by local expectations. We conclude that, in order to move towards justice in lithium mining, it is urgent to listen to local claims and experiences, and to enhance local participation in decision-making processes.