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Supermagnets from Myanmar: What the need for rare earths means geopolitically and ecologically

# 71
The picture shows pagodas in Myanmar in this kind of sunlight. Ten to 30 percent of rare earths are mined in Myanmar, with funding from militant groups and the military junta. Civil war has been raging in the country since 2021.

Rare earths are considered the raw materials of the future. They are in electric cars, wind turbines and armaments. Those who talk about these raw materials must also talk about power, exploitation and global inequality. While Germany and Europe are eagerly importing supermagnets from China, the social and environmental costs of mining occur elsewhere, for example in Myanmar. How does China benefit from the hunger for raw materials and how is the rising mining in Myanmar related to the civil war there? How does the need for rare earths affect current geopolitical developments? And how can we reduce the need for rare earths? Nora Noll talks about this in the World Economy Compass with Michael Reckordt and Maja Wilke, speakers for raw materials policy at PowerShift.

Show notes:

 

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