TED Talks Daily The hidden cost of the green transition's mineral rush | Galina Angarova
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Apr 18, 2025 
Galina Angarova is an Indigenous advocate dedicated to highlighting the hidden costs of the green energy transition. She reveals how the rush for minerals like nickel and lithium jeopardizes Indigenous lands and livelihoods. Angarova calls for a paradigm shift that prioritizes Indigenous leadership and consent. She discusses alarming environmental disasters affecting communities and emphasizes the importance of traditional knowledge in sustainable practices. This conversation challenges listeners to think critically about the true cost of our green technologies.
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Intentions Shape Sustainability
- The core intention behind actions should be either to give and regenerate or to take and extract.
- Indigenous teachings emphasize taking only what is needed and thinking seven generations ahead for sustainability.
Industrial Spill Sparks Indigenous Dialogue
- In 2020, a fuel tank spill by Nordnickel devastated indigenous lands in the Russian Arctic.
- This incident led Galina's group to successfully get Tesla to adopt indigenous rights policies for their suppliers.
Transition Minerals Threaten Indigenous Lands
- Over half of transition minerals lie on or near indigenous lands, threatening 467 million indigenous people.
- Indigenous peoples are the best stewards of these ecosystems but face existential threats from mining.