"To make the world livable, the coming world must be free of fossil fuels"

Environmental law expert, Romina Picolotti, argues that Argentina's lithium is key to accelerating the energy transition. She believes the country must learn from past experiences and build trust to achieve mining with social and environmental justice.

Unlike gold mining, which is linked to accumulation and vanity, the demand for lithium is vital to accelerate the climate emergency, says Romina Picolotti. For this reason, the Córdoba-based lawyer specializing in environmental law believes Argentina must understand its role in resolving this environmental and survival crisis for our civilization.

Picolotti is a co-founder of the Center for Human Rights and the Environment (CEDHA). She received the Sofia Award in 2006 for her outstanding and innovative contribution to the defense of human rights and the promotion of sustainable development. She served as Secretary of the Environment of the Nation between 2006 and 2008. She is currently part of the CEDHA board of directors and works at the Institute for Governance and Sustainable Development, based in Washington, D.C.

The expert believes that, despite the little time we have to reverse global warming, it is still possible, and that lithium batteries are key to achieving it.

• Why is there now an urgency to extract lithium?

• The demand for lithium is tied to the climate emergency. It doesn’t come about whimsically or because lithium could compete with fossil fuels. It arises because we can no longer use fossil fuels. So, we need another type of energy, and lithium batteries are the most advanced technology for storing renewable energy. The entire energy transition to address the climate crisis is currently linked to lithium. It is very important to understand this from countries that have the resource in order to position ourselves in the global scenario. What should their role be, and what will be the demand, pressures, opportunities, and challenges?

• Why is it necessary to accelerate the energy transition?

• The scientific information is very clear that we are facing an existential risk for humanity. It’s important to understand this because it was once thought that the impact was linear, meaning a little warming would bring a little impact. But what science shows today is that it is not linear. A little warming can trigger abrupt and catastrophic impacts.

• What is the window of opportunity we have to avoid these impacts?

• This is a crisis I call the 'three T’s.' We have a Temperature crisis, meaning we are heating the planet a lot. The existential limit is 1.5 degrees. We’re already at 1.2 degrees and are feeling huge impacts. For example, in Argentina and Brazil, the recent droughts have been so severe that they’ve affected the countries’ economic ability to address both their internal and external debts. The second 'T' is these Tipping Points: up to 1.5 degrees, five tipping points are activated, and from 1.5 to 2 degrees, 11 points are activated. For example, the Amazon would go from being a carbon sink as a jungle to becoming a savannah; the Arctic and Antarctic, which are currently two large air conditioners for the Earth due to their ice reflecting solar radiation, will start absorbing heat when they melt, not only raising sea levels but also absorbing more heat. The third T is time. We only have seven years to avoid surpassing a 1.5-degree increase.

• How can lithium battery production help address this emergency?

• We have to run a short race to stop this right now, but also a marathon to stabilize the climate in the long term. Lithium is important for both cases. In addition to halting deforestation, for the short-term race, we need to reduce pollutants with a short atmospheric life. One of them is methane, natural gas. Methane has 83 times more warming capacity than CO2. It’s the gas that powers power plants and is used in industries. During its transportation and storage, there are losses. Lithium, along with sustainable energy sources, can replace methane. It also has a role in the marathon because we must continue generating clean energy. It is clear that if we exploit all the declared fossil fuel reserves today, we’ll have to move to another planet. To be livable, the world to come must be without fossil fuels. We are the last generation that can determine the future of humanity and other living beings on this planet. We have an enormous responsibility, but it is also a tremendous opportunity to do things differently and create different societies.

• How can lithium mining be promoted with social and environmental justice?

• With lithium, there’s an opportunity due to the demand generated by this climate emergency. The U.S. has enacted legislation that drives a series of incentives to accelerate the energy transition in both infrastructure and transportation. It is one of the biggest historical polluters and continues to be so. The demand for both raw minerals and batteries is and will continue to grow because they need to meet that transition. U.S. wholesale companies are setting up monitoring teams to analyze lithium supply locations and determine if they are meeting the standards required by U.S. law on both human rights and environmental protections. If Argentina does not meet these standards, the U.S. and Europe will not buy lithium from the country.

• There are not many good precedents in Argentina regarding large-scale mining. What can be done differently?

• We must understand that this climate crisis gives us the chance to create fairer societies. Lithium mining must be framed within that, and we need to learn from what happened with gold mining in Argentina. That history shows that a plundering, colonialist attitude that ignores local communities only generates conflict, which benefits no one. The private sector and governments need to learn from this and create new frameworks that ensure social and environmental justice. They must help create jobs locally, minimize impacts by incorporating the best available technologies, form dialogue tables, and delineate indigenous peoples' territories. Lithium mining is less impactful than gold mining. Plus, it plays a significant role in the climate crisis, while gold mining is more tied to vanity and accumulation. Trust needs to be built. There’s currently a lot of distrust between the private sector, the public sector, and communities. The only way to generate trust is by working together, with transparency and truth on the table; without ideological positions, because science is infallible.

• Some academic and political sectors are demanding that lithium be declared a strategic resource or nationalized. How can these measures help?

• We’ve had many declarations of strategic resources, but human rights have been violated, and the environment has been contaminated without any respect for that legislation or the people. I’m not sure whether it’s better or worse, but it should definitely be part of the discussion at the dialogue table. However, it doesn’t guarantee anything. I don’t trust such declarations.

• Chile and Bolivia have adopted measures in this regard.

• Perhaps Bolivia, Argentina, and Chile should form an alliance between the three, for example, so that the price is not just determined by demand. The nation must help build trust, even though mining resources belong to each province. It would be great to see a five-year plan with goals and responsibilities.

• Stopping the climate emergency requires deep measures and very little time. Are you optimistic that it will be achieved?

• We have no other option because there’s no other place to go. From a scientific point of view, there’s a clear emergency exit, which can be realized in the next seven years. If we reduce methane, we can avoid an increase of 0.3 to 0.4 degrees in temperature. And if we reduce black carbon, linked to air quality, we could get 0.1 degrees more. Additionally, if we increase our energy efficiency through technology and good practices, especially in the refrigeration sector (implementing the Kigali Amendment), we’ll achieve a reduction of another 0.5 degrees. With all of that, we can keep warming below 1.5 degrees by 2040 or, if we surpass it, not by much. I’m also hopeful because the energy transition is already underway. We just need to accelerate it.