Sustainable Pathways for Electric Vehicle Battery Minerals Sourcing

The electric vehicle (EV) revolution could prevent a climate catastrophe—but only if the lithium, cobalt, and nickel powering it do not fuel a new era of resource conflicts and ecological harm. Yet, the surging demand for critical battery minerals—particularly lithium, cobalt, and nickel—raises significant concerns regarding geopolitical instability, environmental degradation, and social inequity in resource-rich nations with governance challenges and institutionally fragile contexts. Scientific publications on EV batteries have surged in the current decade. Despite this substantial interest in this topical technology, significant gaps persist in scrutinizing the nexus between EV minerals sourcing and the entailed social, environmental, and economic damages . This chapter employs the Triple Bottom Line (TBL) approach—encompassing social, environmental, and economic dimensions—to analyze this underexplored nexus, using a mixed-methods framework that combines critical analysis with case studies from high-risk mineral-producing regions. It identifies pathways to reconcile mineral security with broader sustainability imperatives, emphasizing traceability, inclusive partnerships, and responsible governance. Ultimately, this chapter contributes to advancing the discourse on sustainable resource governance by proposing actionable pathways toward an ethically responsible, environmentally sound, and socially just EV battery mineral supply chain.