Sold Futures? The Global Availability of Metals and Economic Growth at the Peripheries: Distribution and Regulation in a Degrowth Perspective

Abstract

In recent years, the strategic role certain metals play is seen as central to the geopolitics promulgated by state agents in the North. While a switch to renewable energy and an increase in energy efficiency might be instrumental to reducing dependence on fossil energy, it increases dependence on metals. This paper starts from an analysis of the likely availability of metals in the near future and then proceeds to investigate political concerns raised by considering the geological fundamentals of social development at the peripheries of the capitalist world-system. The inequality of metal stocks, future metal requirements and the ensuing political challenges are investigated, taking copper as an example. The final section is dedicated to the discussion of regulatory challenges in view of multiple constraints on metal extraction. This section also highlights the preconditions of a socially legitimate transition to a renewable energy system in the coming period of socio-ecological transformation.

The Geopolitics of Renewable Energy

“…They conclude that the scenarios put forward by 5 th Assessment Report of the International Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) are partly unrealistic from the perspective of critical metals as they "do not consider material availability aspects" (Grandell et al 2016: 61). Exner et al (2015), Hurd et al (2012) and Rothkopf (2009) argue that while renewable energy helps reduce dependence on oil and gas, it also increases dependence on metals (which are also geographically concentrated resources). De Ridder (2013) that renewable energy reduce energy import dependence for the country without elaborating on potential implications of that trend.…”

The Urk World : Hibernating Infrastructures and the Quest for Urban Mining

“…In 2000, the per capita in-use stock of copper varied from 30-40 kg per person in countries in the Global South to 140 to 300 kg per person in the Global North (Gerst and Graedel, 2008), amongst which Sweden was found at 189 kg of in-use copper per person (Rauch, 2009). Based on a future global population of 10 billion as projected by the UN, and the numbers provided by Zittel et al (2012), Exner et al (2014) arrive at an approximate average of 100 kg per person if the planetary copper stock was to be distributed equally, implying a net export of copper from rich countries to poorer ones. If Sweden wants to contribute to the goal of equal access to copper for all nations, this would mean a significant degrowth of the country's in-use copper stocks.…”

“…Urks are in this sense thus not only an example of the Swedish society's persistently wasteful use of mineral resources, but also highly problematic from a global justice perspective as well. On the other hand, and if Sweden wants to diminish its in-use copper stock to contribute its share to equal access to copper for all and comply with the estimated 100 kg of available copper per person globally (Exner et al, 2014), urk mining as well as preventive measures towards further urk accumulation can contribute significantly to realizing such an ambition.…”

The Financialisation of Nature as Crisis Strategy

“…; cf. Exner et al 2014). That means that the relation between industrial and finance capital could be transformed in such a way that both the problem of over-accumulation and the ecological crisis would be processed in the framework of a new, nevertheless selective and socially exclusive hegemonic project called Green Capitalism.…”