Congratulations to Prof Marc Hufty and the team for his new SNIS project, “Green Dealings? - Negotiating Lithium Between South America and Europe for Batteries that Fuel a Just Energy Transition”. The project will address how the emerging "green" energy regime and its reliance on lithium batteries are shaping the political, economic and ecological relations between South American lithium producers and the European Union. 

In the context of climate change mitigation, an energy transition now seems inevitable. Batteries are at the core of this revolution, for energy storage in general and for electric vehicles in particular. However, they require large amounts of lithium, which is highly concentrated geographically, particularly in South America. New European standards for sustainable batteries may reform historically unequal relations with this resource-dependent region. Yet, challenging these inequalities will depend on how actors engage in different forms of negotiation along the lithium battery chain.

The project then asks: How does the critical role of lithium for batteries in the emerging "green" energy regime shape the relations between South American lithium producers and the EU, and can it pave the way for a sustainable and just energy transition?

The project will feature a collaboration between European and South American researchers over the course of 2 years, from December 2021 to November 2023. Supported by postdoctoral researcher, Diego Silva, and research assistant, Jonas Köppel, the project will be based at the Centre for International Environmental Studies.