Santiago de Chile, Buenos Aires, La Paz and Paris, 12 August 2025. As global demand for lithium surges, Argentina, Bolivia, and Chile are ramping up efforts to tap into their vast reserves for economic gains. But as a new analysis details, both the states and the companies operating there have been failing to comply with their human rights obligations.
"There is an urgent need to abandon fossil fuels and transform our energy model, yet it should not come at the expense of people and the environment. The lithium triangle has become emblematic of the enormous risks posed by the rush for transition minerals and of the impacts of policies that fail to centre frontline communities’ voices and guarantee corporate accountability", said Sacha Feierabend, Senior researcher on business and human rights at the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH).
The study offers a rich cross-regional overview of past issues and abuses in the triangle. It also outlines the major risks of escalating violations to which communities, often left out and not consulted in these processes, would be exposed as a result of the rapid development of lithium projects without sufficient regulatory frameworks.
The study was authored by the Observatorio Ciudadano (Chile), the Centro de Estudios Legales y Sociales (CELS, Argentina), the Postgrado en Ciencias del Desarrollo CIDES of the Universidad Mayor de San Andrés (Bolivia), and FIDH.
Threats to the environment, Indigenous communities, and activists
Private and state-owned companies, including transnational companies from countries outside the triangle, have set shop in a region holding 50% of the world’s identified lithium deposits. As the study explains, the rush to secure minerals for renewables and electric vehicle batteries, especially for markets in the European Union, China and the United States, threatens to put a worsening strain on Indigenous communities and nature.
A water-intensive extraction process has compromised vital resources in an extremely arid zone that is especially exposed to climate change. Lithium-rich water is pumped into large evaporation ponds and left to dry under the sun and wind. This has caused the gradual disappearance of wetlands and is depleting water that communities desperately need for agriculture and sustenance.
States and companies are also failing to take the necessary measures to guarantee communities’ rights to participation and consultation. The salt flats have historically been inhabited by Indigenous Peoples. The pressure put on them for lithium extraction has had an adverse impact not only on their land rights, but also on rights recognised to Indigenous Peoples in the context of extractive activities on their lands and territories.
"Despite the obligations Argentina, Bolivia, and Chile accepted when signing International Labour Organisation (ILO) Convention No. 169 and other international instruments applicable to Indigenous Peoples, the projects developed in the high Andean salt flats have not been reviewed with communities to obtain their consent. Communities have neither shared in the benefits generated by this industry, nor been compensated for the damage caused to the ecosystems lithium has been extracted from. All of this has grave consequences for their lives", said José Aylwin, Coordinator of the Globalisation and Human Rights Programme at Observatorio Ciudadano.
Moreover, governments have resorted to legislation that undermines freedom of association in order to encourage the industry’s development. Environmental defenders are met with violent repression and harassment for denouncing the lack of consultation, information and compensation, especially in Argentina and Bolivia. As one troubling example, hundreds of people were injured and at least 90 arrested during protests against constitutional reform in Argentina’s Jujuy province. Many are facing legal proceedings for crimes or misdemeanours.
"The criminalisation of human rights defenders has worsened in recent months. Argentina’s national government has made a series of decisions aimed at ensuring the best possible conditions for extractive industries in the country – at any cost. This includes making the state’s intelligence apparatus available to spy on environmental organisations and creating a specific security unit to intervene in conflicts that affect production processes", said Manuel Tufró, Director of Justice and Security at CELS.
"States and companies must take on their responsibilities to remedy the adverse impacts of mining development on human rights and the environment, and to prevent any that may occur in the future as mining increases. They both must ensure that the urgently needed energy transition is truly fair and equitable for all and not drive more injustices and violations for Indigenous territories and local populations", said Manuel Olivera Andrade, Researcher and Professor at the Universidad Mayor de San Andrés.
This first study draws on a community-based documentation process currently led by Indigenous and local communities in the three countries, established in collaboration with the four organisations. The outcome of the research will feed into three national reports on emerging abuses, to be released in 2026.