The geography of mining and its environmental impact in Europe

Andrea Bastianin, Chiara F. Del Bo and Luqman Shamsudin
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Andrea Bastianin: Department of Economics, Management and Quantitative Methods, University of Milan and Fondazione Eni Enrico Mattei
Chiara F. Del Bo: Department of Economics, Management and Quantitative Methods, University of Milan
Luqman Shamsudin: Fondazione Eni Enrico Mattei and Department of Environmental Science and Policy, University of Milan

No 2025.08, Working Papers from Fondazione Eni Enrico Mattei

Abstract: We map the mining sector in Europe, with a focus on Energy Transition Metals (ETMs), and present an in-depth analysis of the environmental impact and associated monetary costs, at the regional level, of extraction activities. We aim to offer a spatially disaggregated view of the current mining projects and associated environmental costs in terms of CO2 emissions and their monetary value. To do this, we collected global warming potential (GWP) data from Life Cycle Assessment Impact Analysis (LCIA) and linked these to their expected monetary value. By considering the full spectrum of sourced ETMs, we map the environmental, physical, and monetary impact of current mining activities in Europe, and understand what a further increase in exploiting European reserves to reduce dependence from abroad and facilitate the green transition, could imply for European regions.

Keywords: Critical raw materials; Europe; Life Cycle Assessment Impact Analysis; mining; regional (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: L72 O52 Q32 Q51 R11 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025-03
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:fem:femwpa:2025.08

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