ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Polit. Sci.
Sec. Comparative Governance
This article is part of the Research TopicJust Energy Transitions for Europe and BeyondView all 5 articles
Balancing Green Ambitions and Human Rights: Forced Displacement Risk in the Context of EU Sustainability Policies
Provisionally accepted
- 1Autonomous University of Chile, Santiago, Santiago Metropolitan Region (RM), Chile
- 2Radboud University, Nijmegen, Netherlands
- 3Autonomous University of Barcelona, Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain
Select one of your emails
You have multiple emails registered with Frontiers:
Notify me on publication
Please enter your email address:
If you already have an account, please login
You don't have a Frontiers account ? You can register here
Lithium (Li) has been identified in European Union (EU) just and equitable energy transition policies supported by the European Green Deal (EDG) as key in energy storage. However, exponential Li production has consequences for the environment and populations at origin sites. We point to how massive Li extraction risks forced migration of local communities living near mining sites. This study first briefly makes the link between forced human displacement and extractivism, detailing how human rights become compromised, and how this relates to the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. It then turns to the EU example, examining the scope and content of the "sustainability" concept in EU legislation, including the extent to which it addresses forced displacement caused by natural resource exploitation. Within this context, it specifically and comprehensively offers a legal analysis of the recent EU Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD). Ultimately, key findings of this article explore to what extent EU sustainability-based legislation effectively addresses risk of forced displacement. In doing so, the article both identifies challenges in the enforcement of EU legislation in third countries (Bolivia and Chile), as well as assesses the opportunities and shortcomings that the CSDDD presents as a mechanism in furthering a just energy transition.
Keywords: due diligence, Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive, ForcedDisplacement, Lithium, sustainability, Transposition of Directives
Received: 08 Jan 2025; Accepted: 25 Nov 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Preller Borquez, Boland and Blasi Casagran. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Cristina Blasi Casagran
Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.