Raquel Selina Rodriguez walks carefully through the Vega de Tilopozo, in the Atacama Salt Flats, Chile.
It is a swamp known for its groundwater springs, but the plain is now dry and cracked, with holes that, he explains, were once ponds.
"Vega used to be all green," she says.
"You could hardly make out the animals because of the thick grass. Everything is dry now," she says, pointing to several grazing llamas.
Her family has raised sheep here for generations.
As the climate changed and the rain stopped, grass became scarcer, making it difficult for these people to raise livestock.
But the situation worsened when "they" started stealing water, she explains.
"They" are lithium companies.
Beneath the salt flats of the Atacama Desert lie the world's largest reserves of lithium, a soft, silvery-white metal that is an essential component of the batteries that power electric cars, laptops and solar energy storage systems.
As the world moves towards renewable energy sources, the demand for them has skyrocketed.
In 2021, about 95.000 tons of lithium were consumed worldwide; by 2024, that figure had more than doubled, reaching 205.000 tons, according to the International Energy Agency (IEA).
It is expected to exceed 2040 tons by 900.000.
Most of this increase will be due to demand for batteries for electric cars, according to IEA data.
Local residents say environmental protection costs have also increased.
This growing demand has therefore raised the question: Is the global race to decarbonize fueling another environmental problem?
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Flora, flamingos and shrinking lagoons
Chile is the second largest lithium producer in the world, after Australia.
The government launched a National Lithium Strategy in 2023 to increase production through partial nationalization of the industry and encouraging private investment.
The finance minister previously said production could increase by up to 70 percent by 2030, although the Ministry of Mining says it has not set a target.
This year will mark an important milestone.
Planned joint venture of a Chilean company SQM and Chilean state-owned mining companies Codelco has just received regulatory approval for a quota that will allow it to extract the equivalent of at least 2,5 million metric tons of lithium metal annually and increase production by 2060.
The Chilean government designed the plans as part of the global fight against climate change and as a source of government revenue.
Mining companies extract lithium primarily by pumping salt water from underground Chilean salt flats to evaporators on the surface.
The process extracts large amounts of water in this region, which is already prone to drought.
Faviola Gonzalez is a biologist from the local indigenous community who works at the National Reserve The Flamenkos, in the heart of the Atacama Desert, home to vast salt flats, marshes and lagoons, as well as around 185 species of birds.
It monitors changes in the ecosystem.
"The lagoons here are smaller now," she says.
"We have noticed a decline in flamingo reproduction."
He points out that lithium mining affects the microorganisms that birds feed on in these waters, affecting the entire food chain.
He points to the place where, for the first time in 14 years, flamingo chicks were born this year.
He attributes the "low reproductive success" to a slight reduction in water extraction in 2021, but says: "There are few of them."
"There used to be many. Now there are only a few."
Andean groundwater, rich in minerals, is very old and is slowly replenished.
"If we pump out a lot of water and get little in, the Atacama salt flats will remain thirsty," she explains.
In some areas, a detrimental impact on flora has also been discovered.
On salt flats estates exploited by Chilean company SQM, nearly a third of native carob trees began to die in 2013 due to the impacts of mining, according to a 2022 report by the US-based Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC).
But the problem extends beyond Chile.
In a 2022 report for the US-based NRDC, James J.A. Blair, an associate professor at California Polytechnic State University, wrote that lithium mining “contributes to conditions of ecological depletion” and “potentially reduces the availability of freshwater for flora and fauna, as well as humans.”
But he noted that it is difficult to find definitive evidence on this issue.
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Damage mitigation
Environmental damage is, of course, inevitable when it comes to mining.
“It’s hard to imagine any type of mining that doesn’t have a negative impact,” says Karen Smith Stegen, a political science professor in Germany who studies the impacts of lithium mining around the world.
The point is that mining companies can take steps to mitigate the damage.
"What [mining companies] should have done from the beginning was to involve these communities," he says.
For example, before extracting lithium from the ground, companies could conduct "social impact assessments" - analyses that consider the broad impact their operations will have on water, wildlife and communities.
Mining companies now say they are listening. Chile's SQM is one of the main ones.
At one of its facilities in Antofagasta, Valentin Barrera, deputy manager for sustainability at SQM Lithium-u, says the company works closely with communities to understand their concerns and conduct environmental impact assessments.
He firmly believes that, both in Chile and around the world, more lithium is needed for the energy transition.
He adds that the company is testing new technologies.
If successful, the plan is to deploy them in its facilities in the Atacama Salt Flats.
This includes extracting lithium directly from salt water, without evaporation ponds, and technologies for capturing evaporated water and reinjecting it into the ground.
"We are conducting several pilot projects to understand what works best to increase production and reduce current brine extraction by at least 50 percent," he says.
He says the pilot project in Antofagasta has returned “more than a million cubic meters” of water.
"From 2031, we will begin this transition," he adds.
But the locals I spoke to are suspicious.
"We believe that the Atacama Salt Flats are like an experiment," Faviola says.
It is not known how the salt flats would "resist" this new technology and water reinjection, and there are fears that they are being used as a "natural laboratory," he explains.
Sara Plaza, whose family also raised animals in the same community as Raquel, is concerned about the changes she has witnessed throughout her life.
He says the water level has been falling since 2005, but claims that "mining companies have never stopped extracting" lithium.
Her eyes fill with tears when she starts talking about the future.
"The salt flats produce lithium, but one day it will run out. Mining will stop."
"And what will people do here? Without water, without agriculture. How will they live?"
"Maybe I won't live to see it, but our children, our grandchildren, will."
He believes that mining companies have extracted too much water from an ecosystem that is already suffering from climate change.
"It's very painful," he adds.
“Companies give a little money to the community, but I would rather not take any money.
"I prefer to live off nature and have water for life."
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Impact of water shortage
Sergio Cubillos chairs the Peine community association, where Sara and Raquel live.
He says Peine was forced to change "our entire drinking water system, electrical system and purification system" due to the water shortage.
“There is a climate change problem, it doesn't rain anymore, but the main impact is caused by mining,” he says.
This indicates that companies have extracted millions of cubic meters of fresh and salt water, hundreds of liters per second, since the early 1980s.
"Decisions are made in Santiago, the capital, very far from here," he says.
How President Gabriel Boric wants to fight climate change, as he argued during the campaign, must include "the indigenous peoples who have existed in these areas for millennia," says Sergio.
He understands, he continues, that lithium is key to the transition to renewable energy sources, but argues that his community should not be a bargaining chip in these developments.
The community has received some economic benefits, but is concerned about plans to increase production.
While the search for technologies to reduce water impact is welcome, "it can't be done sitting at a table in Santiago, it can be done here," says Sergio.
The Chilean government emphasizes that there is an ongoing dialogue with indigenous communities and that they are consulted on new joint venture agreements. Codelco-SQM to solve water problems, new technologies and contributions to communities.
He states that the increase in production capacity will be based on the inclusion of new technologies to minimize the impact on the environment and society, and that the high value of lithium, due to its role in the global energy transition, could provide opportunities for the country's economic development.
Sergio, however, fears that his area is a "pilot project."
If the impact of new technologies is negative, "we will make every effort to stop activity that could lead Peine into oblivion," he says.
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A piece of the global dilemma
The Atacama Salt Flats are an example of a global dilemma.
Climate change causes droughts.
But one of the world's current solutions, according to local residents, is making this situation worse.
There is a common argument among supporters of lithium mining - although it is harmful to the environment - that it generates huge benefits in the form of jobs and money.
Daniel Jimenez, of lithium consultancy iLiMarkets in Santiago, takes this argument a step further.
He claims that communities exaggerate environmental damage in order to claim compensation.
"It's all about money," he points out.
"Companies have invested a lot of money in improving roads and schools, but the demands of the communities are based on the fact that they want money."
But Professor Stegen is not convinced by this claim.
"Mining companies always say, 'There will be more jobs, you will make more money.'"
"But that's not exactly what many indigenous communities want."
"In fact, it could be revolutionary if it changes the structure of their traditional economy and affects their housing costs."
"Jobs are not key in the decisions of people in these communities," she believes.
The people I spoke to in Chile did not express a desire for more money.
Nor do they oppose measures to combat climate change.
Their main question is why they pay the price.
“I think lithium can be good for cities,” says Raquel.
"But it's also bad for us. We're not living like we used to."
Faviola doesn't believe that electrification alone is the solution to climate change.
"We all need to reduce emissions," she says.
"In developed countries like the United States and Europe, people's energy consumption is much higher than here in South America, among us indigenous people."
"Who are these intended for?" electric cars?To the Europeans and Americans, not to us.
“Our carbon emissions are much lower.
"But our water is being stolen. Our sacred birds are disappearing."
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