Version 3.2

Breaking Free From Mining

Towards a Post-Extractive Future in 2050

Overconsumption and the paradigm of infinite economic growth require vast amounts of metals and minerals, driving one of the world’s most polluting industries and a main contributor to climate change and biodiversity loss: mining. At the same time, transitioning away from fossil fuels will also mean the extraction of materials at unprecedented levels. How do we balance the need to decarbonise our economies while also staying within planetary boundaries? Tackling this paradox will mean that extractivism, consumer capitalism and decarbonisation need to be tackled them in tandem. Using a research based approach, The European Environmental Bureau and CATAPA will be presenting a blueprint for breaking free from resource extraction and shaping a world without mining created by Seas At Risk (SAR). This event has two parts. It will start out with a report presentation and panel discussing existing and emerging alternatives to shift towards a society based on needs rather than growth, on wellbeing, and on the use of resources within the limits of our planet. This will be followed by an imagining workshop in which participants will generate shared visions of preferred post-extractive futures. The workshop is based on the SAR Breaking Free From Mining Report and EEB/CATAPA research.