ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AND SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT: An Analysis of the Lithium Exploration Project in the Vale do Jequitinhonha

• Grant number: 24/20642-1
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: March 01, 2025
• End date: February 28, 2026
• Field of knowledge: Applied Social Sciences - Law - Public Law
• Principal Investigator: Leonardo Simões Agapito
• Grantee: Rayssa de Oliveira Dantas
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Ciências Humanas e Sociais (FCHS). Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP). Campus de Franca. Franca , SP, Brazil

Abstract

This research explores how Lei n.1.992/2020 reproduces the traditional dynamics of mining on the lithium mining in the Vale do Jequitinhonha, Minas Gerais. In that sense, the study aims to highlight the socio-environmental risks of mining in the case under analysis. Despite the developmental discourse surrounding the project, the environmental, sociocultural, and economic risks must be considered. In this regard, the study identifies the gaps in this emerging scenario by discussing the threats to the local population before they materialize and lead to the deterioration of the region, emphasizing the need for social participation and environmental protection. By expanding the analysis of the risks posed by mining, the research seeks to understand the conflict between the attempt to establish a lithium industrial and mining hub and the constitutional principles, through the detailing of social conflicts and environmental degradation. The main objective of this study is to comprehend the dynamics of extractivism and neo-extractivism based on the experience of the Vale do Jequitinhonha, focusing on processes of popular participation and environmental protection. To this, the research presents a critical understanding of neo-extractivism in Brazil; identifies the risks of worsening socioeconomic inequality in the exploited territory; and assesses the importance of environmental citizenship in this process. By a deductive-analytical approach, it will be applied a literature review, a document analysis, and a semi-structured interviews. The expected results are: the identification of the multifaceted nature of risks arising from mining: not only environmental but also economic and sociocultural; in addition to a selective and unsustainable project, based on the perpetuation of capital accumulation practices, which occurs with a lack of public consultation and limited state participation.