SUSTAINABILITY AT A COST: THE WINNERS AND LOSERS IN THE RACE FOR ELECTRIC MOBILITY

From consumers’ point of view, choosing an electrical vehicle represents an ethical choice. Electrical cars need metals and minerals to function, and mining is estimated to contribute about 10 percent to the global emissions. Shifting to electrical vehicles is a fundamentally ecological revolution but it imposes choices that are bound to affect both the environment and global power dynamics. The transition towards green energy has already sharpened geopolitical tensions between China and Western countries. In the last decade, China has reached a dominating role both in the production of green technologies, such as batteries and photovoltaic cells, and in the supply chain for the raw materials that compose them. Behind the price of sustainability there are companies grown in the shadows that control the global raw material market, Chinese private companies buying mines in Chile, Australia and Indonesia but also big car companies such as Tesla and Volkswagen.