The green revolution will stall without Latin America’s lithium
But politicians such as Gabriel Boric, Chile’s president, want to nationalise it
Over half of the world’s lithium, a metal used in batteries for electric vehicles, can be found in Latin America. The region also has two-fifths of the world’s copper and a quarter of its nickel. Recently delegations from the United States and the European Union have flocked there partly to secure resources that will be needed in the energy transition, and to diversify their supply away from China. In March John Kerry, President Joe Biden’s climate tsar, visited the continent. German officials have scheduled at least three high-level meetings in South America this year. Ursula von der Leyen, the president of the European Commission, looks set to visit in the coming months.
This article appeared in the The Americas section of the print edition under the headline “Wrangling over white gold”
From the May 6th 2023 edition
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