Webinar: "Critical" Minerals or Imperial Plunder? Extractivism for Warfare

Even if you don't realize it, you're constantly hearing about "critical minerals." Whether it's for "green energy," for AI, or as part of "defense" spending. Except a "green energy transition" can't be truly environmentally friendly if it relies on extractive mining processes that only exist through war and militarism. And we can't separate the role of these minerals from the advance of war-making, genocidal military equipment, and dangerous AI technology

This webinar, part of the Global Week of Action for Peace and Climate Justice, will examine the linkages between "critical mineral" extraction, war-making, the climate crisis, and the cost of the extraction process. We'll outline who defines what "critical minerals" are, how "criticality" masks imperial extraction, and why the U.S.'s over 800 bases are key to global resource extraction.

We'll also discuss how we cannot combat environmental and planetary destruction without combating the war economy: the US military as the world's largest institutional polluter, the dependency that "green" technology has on militarism, and what grassroots resistance to extraction looks like. Warmaking is the Elephant in the Room in many environmental spaces-- uncovering the reality of extraction in all its forms shows how we can't brush it under the rug any longer.

Speakers:

Nandita Lal, Researcher and Activist

Ruth Rohde, Shadow World Investigations

Afreen Faridi, Assistant Professor, JK Lakshmipat University

Sly Blood-Coltan, Congolese Action Youth Platform