A just and sustainable lithium battery value chain: Delphi Survey - Executive report

Abstract

Climate change is undoubtedly one of the greatest challenges of our time. The energy transition is the main globally agreed-upon mechanism to curtail greenhouse gas emissions and address this problem. Lithium-ion batteries are a key technology in this process, with their role in the decarbonization of transportation, responsible for approximately a quarter of worldwide carbon dioxide emissions, taking center stage. The rapid growth of electromobility significantly propels the demand for some minerals essential in the production of batteries, a critical device for storing energy in electric vehicles. According to estimates from the International Energy Agency, lithium will experience the most pronounced growth in demand in the coming decades, surpassing even graphite and cobalt.Argentina, Bolivia and Chile form the so-called “lithium triangle”, a region that concentrates 53% of the world’s lithium resources and around 80% of those found in salt brines1. The growing demand for lithium, driven primarily by the expansion of electromobility, presents new economic opportunities for these countries. However, this process also entails potential adverse environmental and societal consequences in the regions where lithium mining takes place. Another challenge lies in seizing opportunities to develop productive and technological capabilities. Governments of resource-rich countries, in charge of regulating and monitoring mining activities, share the primary responsibility with the operating companies in ensuring compliance with sustainability requirements. Additionally, they play a pivotal role in crafting policies and strategies to leverage lithium as a platform for national and regional socioeconomic, scientific, technological, and productive progress.These concerns have gained attention in public discourse, drawing interest from different stakeholders such as companies linked to the industry, local communities living near salt flats, non-governmental organizations and academic researchers. Over the years, these groups have identified actual or potential imbalances resulting from lithium mining and have put forth recommendations to address these issues. More recently, the European Union has also decided to advance in this field. This economic and political region, which a few years ago embarked on developing a lithium-ion battery industry, has set out to establish a lithium-ion battery industry, aims to guarantee a steady and continuous supply of lithium compounds produced under sustainable conditions.Within this context the Green Dealings network developed its research project “Green Dealings: negotiating lithium between South America and Europe for batteries that fuel a just energy transition”. Initiated in 2022 the project aims to examine the governance schemes currently under negotiation and formation between Europe and South America concerning the value chain of lithium-ion batteries. Our goal is to gain insight into the perspectives from different stakeholders regarding the path to a more sustainable and just value chain, particularly from the perspective of brine-based lithium-rich countries. The project, funded by the Swiss Network for International Studies, concluded in October 2023 with a closing conference in Geneva, Switzerland.This report presents the results of the Delphi survey “A just and sustainable lithium battery value chain”. It encompasses findings from the two consultation rounds, offering insights segmented by the respondent’s country of residence (lithium-demanding and lithium-rich countries) and respondent categories (industry, government, non-governmental organizations and academia).The survey´s results are rich and complex. We are confident that it will provide a valuable data source for researchers, government and international agency officials and, more broadly, for civil society. This document serves as a guide to read the principal findings presented in the charts included in the main body of the report and in the annexes. The report includes boxes with comments and opinions from three virtual workshops involving survey stakeholders. These workshops served as platforms for presenting and deliberating on the initial survey results (for additional details on the workshops, please refer to the Annex 1 - Methodological Design). They played a crucial role in enhancing and contextualizing some of the study’s results.