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, a report by the UN's water thinktank has found.
UN Study Highlights Environmental and Social Costs
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 456 billion litres of water were used to extract 240,000 tonnes of lithium in 2024, the researchers found, with little of the financial benefit or technological advances from the green energy transition or AI boom reaching the affected communities.
Kaveh Madani, director of UNU-INWEH and the 2026 Stockholm water prize laureate, said: 'Critical minerals are quickly becoming the oil of the 21st century. 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?'
Demand Surge and Waste Generation
According to the International Energy Agency (IEA), growth in demand for key energy minerals has been strong in recent years, with lithium demand rising by nearly 30% in 2024. The production of rare earths almost tripled between 2010 and 2023 as demand for electric vehicles (EVs) and powerful computer chips has soared.
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.
About 700 million tonnes of waste, enough to fill 59 million bin lorries, were generated by global rare-earth production in 2024. Africa, home to about 30% of the world's critical mineral reserves, is being hit hard by the environmental fallout.
Impacts in the Democratic Republic of the Congo
In the Democratic Republic of the Congo, one of the world's biggest cobalt producers, extraction has caused widespread contamination of rivers used for drinking, fishing, and irrigation in the south-eastern mining belt of Lualaba province.
According to the report, about 64% of people in the country lacked basic access to water in 2024, while 72% of those near mining sites reported skin diseases and 56% of women and girls reported gynaecological problems.
Abraham Nunbogu, an UNU-INWEH researcher and the report's lead author, said: 'Some communities struggle on, walking more than a mile to collect water, while others are being forced to abandon their homes for urban areas, driving them further into poverty.'
Lithium Extraction in Latin America
Lithium extraction often requires large amounts of water to be pumped from underground salt flats and evaporated, while chemical processing of other critical minerals can contaminate rivers and underground reservoirs.
Latin America's lithium triangle, the high-altitude salt flats that stretch across Argentina, Bolivia, and Chile, holds some of the world's largest reserves of the metal. These are also some of the world's most arid ecosystems.
In Bolivia's Uyuni region, some communities can no longer reliably grow quinoa, while in Chile's Atacama salt flats, where lithium and other mining account for as much as 65% of regional water use, lagoons are drying up.
José Aylwin, coordinator of the lithium and human rights in ABC project, said: 'These salt flats are the traditional territory of several Indigenous peoples. Their agricultural and pastoral economies have been devastated by the intensive extraction of salt-flat brines and worsening water scarcity in what was already one of the driest ecosystems on Earth.'
'As the report highlights, there is an urgent need to move from voluntary compliance mechanisms to mandatory international and domestic due-diligence standards.'
Future Outlook and Recommendations
The UN researchers warn that the damage is expected to worsen because lithium production must increase ninefold by 2040, while cobalt and nickel extraction must double to meet climate targets.
The authors say legally binding global standards on mineral sourcing, tighter controls on toxic waste and water pollution, and independent monitoring of water use and heavy metal contamination are needed to regulate industries.
Without an overhaul, the green transition risks repeating the patterns of fossil fuel extraction, enriching wealthier nations while leaving poorer communities to bear the cost.
Madani concluded: 'We thought the Industrial Revolutions were progress and now we understand the damage it caused, so we are launching another revolution to fix it. But once again, the burden is falling on the poorest. We are just moving it from the Middle East to Africa and Latin America.'
Community Resistance
While the report paints a bleak picture, some communities and governments are pushing back. Thea Riofrancos, a political scientist at Providence College, noted that protests in Argentina and Chile have challenged lithium projects, while Indonesia has banned exports of raw materials including nickel ore.
'We have seen anti-mining protests becoming more frequent and more militant around the world over the past two decades,' she said. 'Communities are forcing governments to pay closer attention to the costs of extraction.'
