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<p>Copper has become a strategically indispensable material for contemporary economies, particularly in relation to electrification, digital infrastructures, and the transition toward low-carbon energy systems. Its growing relevance has fostered narratives that present copper mining as a necessary and largely uncontroversial contributor to sustainable development. This article critically revisits that assumption by offering a normative analysis of copper mining grounded in the ethical framework articulated in <i>Laudato si’</i>. Rather than approaching extraction as a purely technical or economic activity, the analysis understands mining as a form of governance that shapes social relations, territorial configurations, and long-term responsibilities across generations. Building on the critique of the technocratic paradigm and the principles of integral ecology and intergenerational justice, the article examines how efficiency-oriented decision-making often obscures the social and ecological costs of extractive operations, even when these are framed as essential for climate mitigation. This dynamic is illustrated through three recurrent areas of ethical risk: the governance of tailings and the possibility of catastrophic failure, water-intensive extraction in ecologically fragile and water-stressed regions, and the persistence of structural poverty in mining-dependent economies. Taken together, these risks reveal how extractive practices can undermine human dignity, ecological integrity, and long-term social resilience while maintaining narratives of progress and technological necessity. At the same time, the article explores emerging responses within the copper sector, including regulatory reforms, intergenerational resource funds, assurance and certification schemes, tailings management standards, and market-based traceability mechanisms. While such initiatives do not resolve the inherent tensions of extracting non-renewable resources, they signal pathways toward more responsible forms of organizational and institutional governance when anchored in accountability, transparency, and meaningful stakeholder engagement. The article concludes that the moral legitimacy of copper in the energy transition depends not only on its technological utility, but on whether its extraction is governed in ways that respect ecological limits, social justice, and responsibility toward future generations.</p>

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Technology, Human Progress, and Ethics in Copper Mining: A Perspective from Laudato Si’

  • 期刊论文

  • 发表日期：

    2026年4月14日

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  • Francisco Manuel Lorenzo Valdés,
  • Paulina Isabel Serrano Trespalacios

摘要

Copper has become a strategically indispensable material for contemporary economies, particularly in relation to electrification, digital infrastructures, and the transition toward low-carbon energy systems. Its growing relevance has fostered narratives that present copper mining as a necessary and largely uncontroversial contributor to sustainable development. This article critically revisits that assumption by offering a normative analysis of copper mining grounded in the ethical framework articulated in Laudato si’. Rather than approaching extraction as a purely technical or economic activity, the analysis understands mining as a form of governance that shapes social relations, territorial configurations, and long-term responsibilities across generations. Building on the critique of the technocratic paradigm and the principles of integral ecology and intergenerational justice, the article examines how efficiency-oriented decision-making often obscures the social and ecological costs of extractive operations, even when these are framed as essential for climate mitigation. This dynamic is illustrated through three recurrent areas of ethical risk: the governance of tailings and the possibility of catastrophic failure, water-intensive extraction in ecologically fragile and water-stressed regions, and the persistence of structural poverty in mining-dependent economies. Taken together, these risks reveal how extractive practices can undermine human dignity, ecological integrity, and long-term social resilience while maintaining narratives of progress and technological necessity. At the same time, the article explores emerging responses within the copper sector, including regulatory reforms, intergenerational resource funds, assurance and certification schemes, tailings management standards, and market-based traceability mechanisms. While such initiatives do not resolve the inherent tensions of extracting non-renewable resources, they signal pathways toward more responsible forms of organizational and institutional governance when anchored in accountability, transparency, and meaningful stakeholder engagement. The article concludes that the moral legitimacy of copper in the energy transition depends not only on its technological utility, but on whether its extraction is governed in ways that respect ecological limits, social justice, and responsibility toward future generations.