The green transition requires enormous amounts of resources:
How can this demand for raw materials be met sustainably and limited at the same time?
A seminar in the Studium Fundamentale program at Witten/Herdecke University, followed by an excursion to the German Mining Museum in Bochum, focuses on resource policy between climate protection and global justice.
How can the green transformation be shaped without exacerbating new ecological damage, geopolitical dependencies, and social injustices? Which raw materials are necessary for the sustainable restructuring of energy, transport, and industrial systems—and what are the ecological and political limits to their extraction? Students from various disciplines and regions of the world addressed these questions in the seminar “The Policy of Resources in Times of Green Transition” in the Studium Fundamentale (Stufu) program at UW/H, led by Prof. Dr. Reinhard Loske.
The seminar focused on the realization that the ecological transformation of modern industrial societies is urgently needed to limit the climate crisis and environmental destruction. Photovoltaics, wind energy, battery technology, electromobility, green steel, and hydrogen are core elements of the European Green Deal and a climate-friendly future. At the same time, it became clear that these technologies themselves require enormous quantities of raw materials such as lithium, copper, nickel, cobalt, rare earths, and other materials, the extraction of which can cause significant environmental problems. Students from Africa, the Middle East, and Europe contributed their perspectives to the discussions and exchanged their thoughts on green spaces and red lines.
Global perspectives on raw materials and power relations
The seminar also highlighted new dependencies—such as on China, which dominates the aforementioned commodity markets—geopolitical conflicts, and human rights violations in various producing countries, especially against local communities and indigenous peoples in the Global South. Participants discussed political strategies to limit the negative effects of the green transformation: international cooperation on an equal footing – for example, between Africa and Europe – a sustainable circular economy, and diversification of supplier countries. One topic that is often avoided in political debates repeatedly took center stage: sufficiency, i.e., the renunciation of certain industrial activities. “Above all, it won't work without sufficiency,” summarizes Prof. Dr. Reinhard Loske. The question “How much is enough?” must be asked if the transformation is not to merely lead to a shift in environmental problems. For many students, it was precisely this change in perspective – away from pure efficiency and growth thinking – that provided an important impetus.
A critical look at deep-sea mining
The group also took a particularly critical view of the threat posed by deep-sea mining, which some countries are keen to pursue. This would involve significant interference in the sensitive ocean ecosystem, which is already facing stress factors such as overfishing, acidification, warming, and coral bleaching. Additional interventions could cause irreversible damage – with consequences for the global ocean ecosystem that are difficult to predict.
A highlight of the seminar was the excursion to the German Mining Museum in Bochum. There, the students were given a guided tour that provided them with comprehensive information on all aspects of raw material and fuel extraction. “Anyone looking to the future of resource policy must also know and understand the history of mining, its welfare effects, but also its negative external effects on the environment and society,” says Prof. Dr. Reinhard Loske. The excursion made it clear that a responsible resource policy can only succeed if the past, present, and future are considered together.
Studium fundamentale (Stufu)
The Studium Fundamentale program at Witten/Herdecke University offers students the opportunity to explore philosophical, artistic, and social issues in more than 100 interdisciplinary courses, allowing them to go beyond the boundaries of their own field of study. Every Thursday, students from all degree programs come together in these courses. The Stufu encourages them to think critically, take responsibility, exchange perspectives, and develop their own point of view.
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