Rising demand for lithium-ion batteries to decarbonize mobility and energy sectors has significantly increased lithium extraction. Since current production is geographically concentrated in the Global South, several European countries have domestic extraction plans to ensure supply security, higher environmental standards, and local economic benefits amidst rising geopolitical rivalry over decarbonization technology supply chains. Yet plans for domestic lithium extraction have been met with widespread public opposition in European countries. Little is known about potential drivers of this opposition, including concerns about environmental degradation, procedural and distributive justice, or the inherent contradiction of exploiting the planet to save it. Even less is known about which alternatives to domestic lithium mining extraction-opposed but climate-concerned individuals are willing to accept, such as reducing personal mobility and energy consumption. Assessing the relative significance of presumed opposition drivers is important to understand whether mitigating resource governance policies could ensure majority support for European lithium extraction, or whether a more fundamental rejection of green extractivism necessitates a rethinking of the extractivist premise of technology-based decarbonization and a re-orientation towards alternative approaches to climate change mitigation.
Leveraging a survey-embedded conjoint experiment and adaptive conjoint analysis fielded in Germany and Spain, we aim to assess to what extent resource governance policies that address various opposition drivers affect public support for lithium extraction in European countries, and which alternatives to decarbonization based on domestically extracted resources opposed individuals prefer. The results of our research can help assess the political feasibility of European lithium extraction and, more generally, technology-based decarbonization.