Getting on Track Again: Why Electric Cars are not the Solution
Monday, September 21, 2020
12-1:30 pm Eastern Time (US) / 6-7:30 pm German time
Zoom Webinar
You can watch a recording of the complete event by clicking the button above.
About the Event
Traffic and transportation make up 20% of Germany’s CO2 emissions. In the face of a climate catastrophe, the need for drastic change is clear – and yet, each year, more and more vehicles are being sold in a country that finds pride in its car industry and an Autobahn without speed limits. Electric cars as well as efficiency gains in combustion technology are expected to provide a solution that ultimately does not challenge the status quo. Many aspects question their promise, and one of these aspects will be explored in this presentation: cars require large amounts of metals. This is true for all cars, but the topic has gained visibility due to the widely debated consequences of lithium and cobalt mining – two metals that are needed for the batteries of electric cars.
Merle Groneweg will give a brief introduction into current debates in Germany – and why electric cars cannot be the solution for a climate-just mobility. She presents key aspects of policy proposals that combine mobility, trade, and raw material policies.
About the Speaker
Merle Groneweg works for the NGO PowerShift on the topics of raw materials, mobility and trade policies. She is one of the authors of the study “Weniger Autos, mehr globale Gerechtigkeit” (Fewer cars, more global justice, 2018) that was co-published by major development NGOs Bread for the World and Misereor.