Clean energy initiatives and other programmes aimed at reducing carbon emissions are honourable. In reality, clean energy does not exist. The international community's pressure on different states to decarbonize rapidly is having the opposite effect of what is intended: it is doing more harm than good. Consider the manufacturing of core and auxiliary components for electric vehicles, solar, and wind energy systems, all of which demand significant amounts of cobalt and cooper. Recycled copper and cobalt do not meet demand; more mining is required, which further results in more pollution, and environmental damage as nature is cleared for the mine.
The processing of mined minerals is carried out in underdeveloped areas with limited access to resources and little to no government services. By using excessive amounts of water or by contaminating the water with mining and processing waste, the processes deprive the local communities of their already limited supply of water. Human life is the most costly of all the costs of the rapid decarbonization initiatives. People from the community are often employed in those mines under hazardous working conditions, which leads to multitudes of accidental fatalities and cancer. Study the Congo for cobalt related fatalities, and Latin America for cooper related ones.
Again, how green is rapid decarbonization? How sustainable are our strategies pursuant to decarbonization and a sustainable future?