Mining for the minerals that power the clean energy transition, including lithium, cobalt and nickel, may pose a bigger threat to biodiversity than its relatively modest deforestation footprint suggests, according to a new global analysis.
Researchers from Tohoku University and Japan's National Institute for Environmental Studies used remote sensing and machine learning to build an unprecedented global map of mining activity, then combined it with public datasets on forest loss and species extinction risk to measure how mineral extraction is reshaping ecosystems worldwide.
For the study, published in Nature Communications, the team analyzed roughly 70,000 mining sites across 20 commodities and found that mining caused the loss of 16,268 square kilometers of forest between 2001 and 2022—an area comparable to the size of Beijing. Most of that loss occurred in rainforests across the Amazon, Southeast Asia and the Congo Basin, with gold and coal emerging as the biggest drivers of deforestation overall.
But when the researchers factored in biodiversity risk rather than forest loss alone, the picture shifted. Green energy minerals, such as lithium, showed some of the highest biodiversity risks of any commodity studied, despite causing comparatively little visible deforestation. Lithium extraction in salt flats and wetlands, for example, can disrupt fragile ecosystems and threaten species even when the surrounding landscape looks largely intact.
"Advances in remote sensing and machine learning offer new opportunities for automated analysis of mining at a global scale," said study author Keiichiro Kanemoto, associate professor at Tohoku University. "The transition to green technologies is driving demand for a different set of minerals, but there is insufficient data to fully understand the environmental implications."
The findings point to a distinction between the visible environmental damage of traditional mining and the subtler pressures created by extracting materials essential to decarbonization. As demand for lithium, cobalt and nickel is expected to keep climbing to supply electric vehicle batteries and renewable energy storage, the researchers argue that this hidden cost needs to be weighed alongside climate benefits.
“This study represents a major step forward in understanding the true global footprint of mining and demonstrates that the path to a greener future must also account for the hidden environmental costs of the materials that make it possible,” said Kanemoto.
Data from Tohoko University