Latin America has been one of the main hubs of the global mining industry since at least the early 1990s. Today, with the urgent need to transition away from fossil fuels, it is rapidly becoming the epicentre for a whole new wave of extraction. Key metals like lithium and copper, used widely in green technologies such as solar panels and electric vehicles, are found in large quantities in the Latin American subsoil. But extracting these metals comes at a cost. In recent years, Latin American communities have increasingly mobilised to denounce the impacts of the mining industry on their lives, livelihoods and environments. To what extent are our green aspirations built on the expansion of an industry with major environmental and human rights issues? And are there any alternatives to yet more extraction?

To discuss these questions and more, join Tom Gatehouse, author of ‘The Heart of Our Earth: Community resistance to mining in Latin America’.