Perspective Decarbonization and social justice: The case for artisanal and small-scale mining Brandon Marc Finn a,* , Adam Simon b , Joshua Newell c a School for Environment and Sustainability, University of Michigan, 520 E Liberty Street, Ann Arbor, MI 48104, United States of America b Earth & Environmental Sciences, University of Michigan, United States of America c School for Environment and Sustainability, University of Michigan, United States of America A R T I C L E INFO Keywords: Decarbonization Artisanal and small-scale mining (ASM) Mining Critical minerals Social justice Environmental justice ABSTRACT Artisanal and small-scale mining (ASM) is the primary livelihood for an estimated 40 million people in 80 countries and supports an additional 130 to 270 million people in mining communities. With the emergence of critical minerals necessary for decarbonization efforts, ASM has emerged as a crucial form of production to help meet global demand. Despite its importance, ASM miners and communities are routinely ostracized and pa- thologized. Rather than the cause of social deprivation, this article argues that ASM refects broader social, political, and historical inequalities. We contend with four main arguments against ASM before elaborating on three reasons that ASM ought to be responsibly supported. These reasons are ASM's ability to enable economic redistribution, meet increased global demand for critical minerals, and advance social justice. Inclusive regu- lation and governance rather than exclusion and plausible deniability constitute the pathway to addressing attendant social and environmental challenges associated with ASM practices. This paper identifes pathways to inclusive regulation of ASM and proposes avenues for future research and interventions. Ultimately, ASM must be understood as a central social justice issue of our time, especially in the context of global decarbonization efforts. 1. Introduction Artisanal and small-scale mining (ASM) refers to mining methods that typically occur informally, without signifcant regulatory oversight, and through rudimentary mining tools, including picks, shovels, and buckets [1]. Labor-intensive ASM directly employs an estimated 40.5 million people in 80 countries, and 130 to 270 million people globally depend on the informal cash-rich ASM industry [2,3]. Although large- scale mining (LSM) is more effcient and straightforward to regulate, it is much less labor-intensive. LSM employs 7 million people globally [2]. The rise of mechanization, automation [4], wide-scale use of industrial equipment within LSM, and economies of scale mean that LSM produces a far greater amount of mined output while employing a fraction of the workforce compared to ASM. ASM mainly relies on an ‘unskilled’ workforce that uses basic hand tools to excavate ore for global con- sumption. ASM work is often either unregulated or regulated in a rudimentary manner, hence its association with social, health, and environmental harms such as child labor [5], exposure to harmful levels of radiation [6], and mercury use impacting ASM workers, their families, and aquatic ecosystems [7–9]. Demand projections for energy-critical minerals such as copper, co- balt, lithium, and nickel predict enormous increases as the world shifts towards decarbonization [10,11]. The U.S. Infation Reduction Act calls for, among other things, putting into operation in the U.S. as many as 37 million battery electric vehicles (EVs) cumulatively from 2023 to 2032 [12]. This fgure is up from 1.2 million in 2023. The rechargeable bat- teries in EVs are manufactured using several critical minerals. The rising demand for these minerals will simultaneously increase the operations of both LSM and ASM mining activities [13], as the market for minerals is expected to increase fvefold by 2050 [14]. ASM mining contributes to fulflling global mineral supply needs while providing an essential livelihood to people working directly in ASM and the millions of people who beneft indirectly from the ASM sector [15,16]. Massive increases in demand for minerals present an enormous opportunity to lift millions of ASM workers and their families out of poverty. From discovering a mineral deposit to commercial production, average lead times for LSM across all critical minerals take about 16 years [17]. ASM mining can respond to shifting demand in days to weeks [18]. * Corresponding author. E-mail addresses: brafnn@umich.edu (B.M. Finn), simonac@umich.edu (A. Simon), jpnewell@umich.edu (J. Newell). Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Energy Research & Social Science journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/erss https://doi.org/10.1016/j.erss.2024.103733 Received 4 April 2024; Received in revised form 14 August 2024; Accepted 20 August 2024 Energy Research & Social Science 117 (2024) 103733 Available online 31 August 2024 2214-6296/© 2024 Elsevier Ltd. All rights are reserved, including those for text and data mining, AI training, and similar technologies.