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Environment
Apr 29, 2026
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Critical Minerals Fuel Poverty and Pollution in Poorer Countries

AI Summary
The extraction of critical minerals like lithium, cobalt, and nickel is causing poverty and pollution in vulnerable communities, with the UN warning that the environmental and health costs are being borne by communities far from the consumers of green energy products.

The Dark Side of Critical Minerals

Critical minerals such as lithium, cobalt, and nickel are becoming the 'oil of the 21st century' as the scramble for precious metals deepens poverty and creates public health crises in some of the world's most vulnerable communities.

The Environmental and Health Impacts

The investigation by the United Nations University Institute for Water, Environment and Health (UNU-INWEH) concluded that the growing demand for lithium, cobalt, and nickel used in batteries and microchips is draining water supplies, eroding agriculture, and exposing communities to toxic heavy metals.

  • An estimated 456bn litres of water were used to extract 240,000 tonnes of lithium in 2024.
  • About 700m tonnes of waste, enough to fill 59m bin lorries, were generated by global rare-earth production in 2024.

The Human Cost

The report found that while EVs may reduce emissions by consumers in North America and Europe, the environmental and health costs are borne by communities far away, in the mining regions of Africa and Latin America.

In the Democratic Republic of the Congo, one of the world's biggest cobalt producers, extraction has caused the widespread contamination of rivers used for drinking, fishing, and irrigation.

  • About 64% of people in the country lacked basic access to water in 2024.
  • 72% of those near mining sites reported skin diseases.
  • 56% of women and girls reported gynaecological problems.

The Future Outlook

The UN is warning that the transition to green energy cannot be at the expense of vulnerable communities and the environment.

“Critical minerals are quickly becoming the oil of the 21st century,” said Kaveh Madani, director of UNU-INWEH. “What we are selling as a solution to sustainability is actively hurting people somewhere else in the world. How can we then call the transition green or clean?”