The race to mine critical minerals for AI and clean energy is creating ‘sacrifice zones’ that harm water and health of world’s poor
- Written by Abraham Nunbogu, Researcher, Institute for Water, Environment and Health (UNU-INWa, United Nations University
An artisanal miner holds a cobalt stone at a mine near Kolwezi, Congo, in 2022. About 20,000 people work there among toxic materials.Junior Kannah/AFP via Getty ImagesThere is a troubling contradiction at the heart of the global transition to a cleaner, greener, tech-driven future: Modern technologies – everything from AI to wind turbines,...

