Ecological Unequal Exchange and Geopolitics

In this chapter, we examine the concept of Ecological Unequal Exchange (EUE) and the relationship between EUE and geopolitics. We discuss the historical and theoretical underpinning of this concept, including its causes and consequences. We focus on two critical twenty-first century processes, the transition away from fossil fuels toward renewable energy and the geopolitical rivalries and conflicts that have emerged during this transition. We will illustrate EUE and its relationship with geopolitics using examples from the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), a country that has long been exploited via EUE and that today is a central site of geopolitical rivalries over its raw materials that are critical to the energy transition, including cobalt and copper.