Dig, Baby, Dig! Part 1: Peru, with Vanessa Baird

Eighty percent of the world is still powered by fossil fuels, but critical minerals are on the up.

What exactly are critical minerals - and why all the hype?

To mark the launch of our latest magazine, we’re digging deep.

The first episode in this mini series takes you to Peru, where the government is determined to inflict an unpopular copper mine on the people of the Tambo Valley. Contributing editor Vanessa Baird shares what she learned from campaigners and activists about their growing resistance.

Host: Maxine Betteridge-Moes

Guest: Vanessa Baird

Credits: Maxine Betteridge-Moes (Producer, Digital Editor), Amy Hall, Bethany Rielly, Conrad Landin, Nick Dowson (Co-Editors), Paula Lacey (Editorial Assistant), Samuel Rafanell-Williams (Sound Design), Nazik Hamza (Audio Editor), Mari Fouz (Logo Design)

Read NI555: Dig, Baby, Dig! Can Critical Minerals Save the World?

0:58: Introduction to critical minerals

3:19: Welcoming Vanessa Biard

3:22: Donald Trump and China using minerals as a political tool

4:15: Can critical minerals save the world?

6:40: Blackrock and AI - ‘greenwashing’ red flags?

8:39: Peru Case Study

10:30: Tia Maria mine protests

12:21: Peru’s right wing shift to authoritarianism

15:11: The exponential rise in illegal and informal mining

16:32: Peru’s instability – lethal repression of popular protest

19:06: What is the most important takeaway from Peru’s case study?

20:51: The future of Peru

Further reading from this episode:

Can mining save the world? (Vanessa Baird, New Internationalist)

Hall of Infamy: Dina Boluarte (New Internationalist)

Killing of protesters sparks early elections in Peru (Vaness Baird, New Internationalist)

Peru’s anti-forest law rewards crime and screws the planet (Vanessa Baird, New Internationalist)

Avoid Amazon by shopping at New Internationalist’s very own Ethical Shop

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