Increasing lithium mining could threaten endemic species in biodiversity hotspots

Shyam Subramaniam Sharma, Charlotte S. Miller, William D Pearse, Guy Woodward, Gregory Offer, Jacqueline S. Edge

Electric vehicles (EVs) are being rapidly deployed as a technological solution to the climate crisis. However, mineral extraction to supply EV battery production can cause serious environmental damage, threatening ecosystems and biodiversity from local to global scales. Lithium, a key EV battery component, is experiencing an enormous mining boom, which could drive species population declines and eventual extinctions. Using the IUCN Red List, we developed and tested a new metric for assessing the potential threats posed by 400 operational and prospective lithium mines, located across 41 countries, to surrounding species. Our results indicate that Australian lithium mines pose the greatest overall threat and Chilean lithium mines pose the greatest threat on a per species impacted basis. We attribute both countries’ mines high potential threat to many of them being located within biodiversity hotspots, where exceptional numbers of local species are endemic and many are already under threat of extinction. Furthermore, we also identified numerous species in these countries that may not currently be known to be threatened with extinction but their endemism could put them at an elevated risk of becoming so if they are adversely impacted by lithium mining. Going forward, a multi-pronged approach may be best to ensure global decarbonization can be achieved while preventing widespread biodiversity loss as a consequence of increasing lithium mining. This could involve first reducing lithium demand alongside carbon emissions through behavioural and policy changes, including decreased personal vehicle use, smaller vehicle sizes, and metal recycling. Mining “no-go” zones should also be considered in high-risk areas within biodiversity hotspots and other locations with high degrees of species endemism. For the remaining lithium demand, restricting lithium mining to areas with low richness of endemic and threatened species, and where the rights of local people have been respected, may produce fewer negative impacts.