The ESG Triangle: How Lithium Mining in Latin America Could Point the Way Toward Long-Term Environmental and Social Value Strategies

Abstract

Latin America’s ‘Lithium Triangle’ accounts for over 60% of lithium reserves, creating commercial opportunities tied to lithium’s role in electric vehicles and alternative energy storage, which the World Bank estimates may lead to an increase in lithium demand of 488% by 2050. Lithium extraction is concentrated in brine deposits and extracted in a water intensive process that affects both environmentally fragile salt flats and adjoining biodiverse wetlands—areas that also are linked, both economically and culturally, to Indigenous populations. Thus, economic benefits from mining are linked inextricably to long-term challenges of water depletion, usage and management, potential Indigenous population displacement, and reduced biodiversity. Managing these challenges now will be changing due to the recent Escazu Agreement (2018) and emerging ESG disclosure and diligence requirements, particularly from the European Union (EU), whose standards are the most developed. The Escazu Agreement guarantees rights to information, participation and access to justice in environmental matters, and mandates the involvement and protection of civil society organizations (CSOs) and personnel. Moreover, many companies in the lithium mining value chain or its financing will be subject to EU ESG standards requiring assessment and disclosure of how corporate activities affect, both positively and negatively, the environment and local communities as measured against EU ESG objectives. This chapter will show how the Escazu Agreement and EU ESG standards provide a case study for how companies can be encouraged to pay greater attention to long-term environmental and social issues, and the role that partnerships among industry, government focal points and CSOs could play in maximizing ESG value strategies.