Multi-scalar connections around lithium production in Argentina

ESCOSTEGUY, MELISA; DIAZ PAZ, WALTER; CLAVIJO, ARACELI; IRIBARNEGARAY, MARTÍN; BRANNSTROM, CHRISTIAN; HUFTY, MARC; SEGHEZZO, LUCAS

St Andrews

Conferencia; Energy Ethics 2021; 2021

Centre for Energy Ethics, University of St Andrews

Since lithium has become a critical element for the production of lithium-ion battery technologies aimed at mitigating climate change, its demand is expected to increase rapidly in the coming years. Currently, lithium compounds are mainly produced in four countries, with Argentina being the world´s fourth largest lithium producer. In Argentina, lithium is extracted through evaporitic techniques from the salt flats located in the north of the country, in the Puna region. The Puna is home to indigenous and peasant communities whose livelihoods are often affected by lithium production. As a consequence, this region plays a growing role in the new dynamics of the global economy. In this paper we coded 650 documents and applied a multi-scalar analysis to explore the multiple connections between local, national and global stakeholders that are shaping lithium production in Argentina. We found that lithium appears as an ambivalent resource. It is a local resource since its production has concrete social and environmental impacts on the territories it is extracted from. But it is also global in that its production is mostly determined by exogenous and often transnational forces, actors, and policies. We argue that the identified multi-scalar connections have several impacts that put into question the fairness of the lithium production process in the current context of economic decarbonization. We conclude that moving towards more just and sustainable decarbonization processes will only be possible if all stakeholders, at all scales, can have a say in the lithium global production network.