Deregulation and access to raw materials at any price - the answer to current crises?

Brot für die Welt and the Heinrich Böll Foundation invite:

As geopolitical tensions rise, the EU is seeking to reduce its own dependence in strategic areas. These include metals and minerals, which are often highly dependent on individual countries, particularly China. Not only at the European level, various new strategies and proposals are being developed to secure the supply of raw materials; the new German government has also emphasised the security of raw materials and battery production in its coalition agreement. 

The predicted increase in consumption of many metals needed for the energy transition and digitalisation, as well as for the transport, construction and defence industries, is increasing pressure on mining regions. At the same time, there are growing efforts to deregulate human rights and environmental due diligence obligations, including at European level. This development is fraught with risks, as the extraction and processing of raw materials is often accompanied by massive environmental damage and human and labour rights violations, while the local population hardly benefits. 

Together with representatives of various partner organisations from countries in Latin America, Africa and Europe, who are concerned with the environmental and social impacts of the extraction of lithium and other metals, and with political decision-makers, we want to critically discuss Europe's hunger for raw materials, current deregulation efforts and their effects on lithium-rich regions, as well as the question of a globally just raw materials transition.

The event will be held in German and English with simultaneous translation.

Further information will follow soon. 

Please register via Guestoo. 

Address: Brot für die Welt, Evangelisches Werk für Diakonie und Entwicklung e.V.

Caroline-Michaelis-Str.1, Berlin

Info: Annette Kraus, kraus@boell.de