The Hidden Cost of Green Tech: How Critical Minerals Are Creating Global ‘Sacrifice Zones’

There is a troubling contradiction at the heart of the global transition to a cleaner, greener, tech-driven future: Modern technologies—from AI to wind turbines, cellphones, electric vehicles, and defense systems—depend on critical minerals. But the communities where these minerals are mined often face polluted water and poorer health as a result.

Lithium powers batteries. Cobalt stabilizes them. Copper carries electricity. Rare earth elements make wind turbines and digital devices efficient and durable. Each of these minerals is essential to the technologies of the fourth industrial revolution, yet they are also toxic and require enormous amounts of water to extract.

As researchers at the United Nations University Institute for Water, Environment and Health, we have studied the impacts of critical mineral mining on communities worldwide. Our new report reveals why unmonitored and unregulated supply chains could worsen the lives of some of the world’s poorest people.

One of us is from the Middle East, a region still grappling with the long-term consequences of supplying fuel for 20th-century economic growth. The other is from Africa, now a major supplier of critical minerals fueling 21st-century technological advancements. Based on our research, we warn that without major changes in how countries, corporations, and communities manage critical minerals, humanity risks repeating the injustices of the oil extraction era—this time with the very technologies meant to solve the problems fossil fuels created.

Mining’s Devastating Impact on Global Water Supplies

One of the most severe consequences of critical mineral extraction is its strain on water resources. In 2024 alone, global lithium production consumed an estimated 456 billion liters of water—equivalent to the annual domestic water needs of roughly 62 million people in sub-Saharan Africa.

At the same time, many regions face water bankruptcy, where human and industrial demand outstrips nature’s ability to replenish freshwater supplies, causing irrecoverable ecosystem damage. In arid regions like Chile’s Salar de Atacama, mining accounts for up to 65% of total regional water use, competing directly with agriculture and ecosystems. The result? Groundwater levels have plummeted, salt lagoons have shrunk, and freshwater aquifers are increasingly depleted and contaminated.

Toxic Waste and Pollution: The Hidden Toll of Extraction

Water pollution exacerbates these crises. Mining generates vast quantities of toxic waste and wastewater laced with heavy metals, acids, and radioactive residues. For example, rare earth mineral production creates up to 2,000 metric tons of waste for every metric ton of usable material.

Rare earth minerals are often extracted using leaching ponds and chemical separation processes. When effluent is untreated or improperly stored, chemicals seep into groundwater and waterways, contaminating aquifers and rivers. In parts of the world, rivers near cobalt and copper mines have turned acidic, rendering them biologically dead and unsafe for human consumption.

"If critical mineral supply chains are not monitored and regulated, humanity risks reproducing the injustices of the oil extraction era, this time with the technological advancements meant to address the problems fossil fuels created."

Who Bears the Cost of Green Technology?

The burden of this environmental degradation falls disproportionately on the world’s poorest communities. These regions often lack the infrastructure and resources to mitigate mining’s impacts, leaving them to suffer the consequences of resource extraction while distant industries and consumers reap the benefits.

Without urgent action—stronger regulations, transparent supply chains, and equitable distribution of environmental costs—the transition to green technology could deepen global inequality rather than alleviate it.