Document Type
Article
Publication Date
2025
ISSN
2693-9681
Publisher
University of California Berkeley
Language
en-US
Abstract
This paper argues that decarbonization will fail to deliver climate justice unless the transition to clean energy confronts the racialized political economy that has historically structured extractive activity and shaped international economic law. Grounding its analysis in racial capitalism, the paper contends that the growing demand for critical minerals risks reproducing patterns of exploitation, expropriation, and expulsion. Using lithium extraction in Chile as a case study, it shows how colonial legacies, dictator-era neoliberal reforms, and present-day regulatory architectures governing foreign investment and natural resource extraction have prioritized investors over human rights and the environment. Recent decisions of the International Court of Justice and the Inter-American Court of Human Rights on climate change provide a normative counterweight to international investment law and potentially a pathway for inclusive and transformative reforms. By foregrounding racial equity, the clean energy transition can avoid replicating the distributive injustices of the fossil fuel era.
Recommended Citation
Erika George,
Human Rights Risks in Clean Energy Supply Chains: Racial Capitalism, Critical Minerals, and Corporate Responsibility
,
5
Journal of Law and Political Economy
748
(2025).
Available at:
https://scholarship.law.bu.edu/faculty_scholarship/4199
Included in
Environmental Law Commons, Human Rights Law Commons, Law and Economics Commons, Law and Politics Commons, Law and Race Commons
