Mining for energy transition minerals drives deforestation at a scale comparable to mining for coal and other minerals, a new study shows.

But the severity of impacts is affected by the strength of land ownership rights. Areas that have stronger rights protections end up with lower rates of deforestation, an insight for Canadian provincial and federal governments considering faster approvals.

The recent study published in the journal Nature Climate Change “sounds a caution,” Jamie Kneen, MiningWatch Canada’s national program co-lead, told The Energy Mix. As provincial, territorial, and federal governments all press to fast-track mining projects, like by bypassing or limiting environmental assessments, other precedents show that doing so “has really devastating real-world consequences.”

…

Read the full article here.