How to Stop a Boom from Busting: A Policy-Oriented Research Agenda for Capitalizing on China’s Demand for Transition Materials in Latin America
Boston University, Global Development Policy Center and Universidad del Pacífico, Centro de Estudios Sobre China y Asia-Pacífico (2023) https://cechap.up.edu.pe/wp-content/uploads/GCI_China-LAC-Transition-Minerals-Report-FIN.pdf
Avoiding catastrophic climate change requires the dramatic acceleration of renewable energy deployment. This expansion is already occurring, with China playing the largest role in the expansion of solar and wind energy supply chains. Several of these supply chains begin in Latin America, which leads the world in deposits of lithium, copper and other critical transition minerals. Thus, the Latin America-China economic relationship will likely be key to the global expansion of renewable energy to mitigate climate change.
This report draws heavily on insights emerging at the August 2023 workshop of the Working Group on Development and Environment in the Americas, convened by the Boston University Global Development Policy Center, the Universidad del Pacífico’s Centro de Estudios sobre China y Asia-Pacífico and Peking University’s Institute for New Structural Economics.