In this episode of Orion Talks, host Marta Furlan talks with Mehmet Metehan Ciftci about the socio-political harms linked to the mining of critical minerals. The conversation starts with Mete explaining the paradox of green minerals being extracted in the Global South, where their harmful impacts are felt, and end technologies being enjoyed in the Global North. He then reflects on conflicts surrounding lithium mining and expands on what makes lithium conflicts different from others. From there, he zooms in on the South America region and the role of Indigenous communities: while not everyone among them is against mining, many Indigenous people have been involved in conflicts and looked for innovative ways of responding to the mining. He concludes by sharing his thoughts on how the tension between the goals of the energy transition and responsible mining can be balanced.
Mehmet Metehan Ciftci is finishing his PhD at the University College London Institute for Sustainable Resources. His key research themes include environmental justice, the resource curse and associated conflicts, as well as critical minerals and material circularity. Prior to joining UCL, he completed his MSc in International Political Economy at the London School of Economics and Political Science and his BA in International Relations at Galatasaray University. Currently, Mete is part of the ReSET project at the University of Oxford, that looks at the role that magmatic systems, such as those beneath volcanoes, can play in enabling the energy transition.
