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Argentina’s Lithium Industry and its Role in the Global Renewable Energy Transformation

Date & Time

Wednesday
Apr. 7, 2021
3:00pm – 5:00pm ET

Overview

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The global renewable energy transition is accelerating rapidly and lithium, the key ingredient in rechargeable batteries for electric vehicles and renewable energy storage, is more important than ever. This critical mineral, found in abundance in South America, is also important to post-pandemic economic recovery in Argentina, Bolivia and Chile, the so-called “Lithium Triangle.”

This is particularly true in Argentina, the world’s fourth-largest lithium producer. In recent years, the sector has encountered various challenges such as global oversupply, delayed investments and supply chain disruptions related to the pandemic. Today, however, the government and major private sector players are optimistic about the country’s lithium industry and its importance to the global renewable energy transformation.

Will Argentina be prepared to take advantage of projected skyrocketing global demand for lithium? Is Argentina’s investment framework attracting sufficient investment to accelerate production? Are Argentina’s provincial governments assuring environmental sustainability? Is Argentina collaborating with its neighbors to facilitate cross-border projects and explore opportunities higher up the lithium value chain?

Agenda



  • 3:00 p.m. - 3:15 p.m.

    Introduction:

    • Benjamin N. Gedan, Director, Argentina Project, Wilson Center        
    • Jorge Argüello, Argentine Ambassador to the United States

    3:15 p.m. - 3:40 p.m.

    Argentina’s
    Lithium Strategy

    Presenters:

    • Alberto Hensel, Secretary of Mining, Ministry of Productive Development
    • Leila Devia, Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Industrial
    • Sara Hastings-Simon, The Payne Institute for Public Policy

    Moderator:

    • Virginia Snyder, Senior Energy Specialist, Inter-American Development Bank

    3:45 p.m. - 4:10 p.m.

    Sustainability Issues in Argentina’s Lithium Sector

    Presenters:

    • Gustavo Sáenz, Governor, Salta Province, Argentina
    • Raúl Jalil, Governor, Catamarca Province, Argentina
    • Gerardo Morales, Governor, Jujuy Province, Argentina

    Moderator:  

    • PatriciaVásquez, Global Fellow, Latin American Program, Woodrow Wilson Center

    4:15 p.m. - 4:45 p.m.

    Argentina’s Place in the Lithium Value Chain
                

    • Matías Kulfas, Minister of Productive Development, Argentina
    • Paul Graves, Chief Executive Officer, Livent

Hosted By

Latin America Program

The Wilson Center’s prestigious Latin America Program provides non-partisan expertise to a broad community of decision makers in the United States and Latin America on critical policy issues facing the Hemisphere. The Program provides insightful and actionable research for policymakers, private sector leaders, journalists, and public intellectuals in the United States and Latin America. To bridge the gap between scholarship and policy action, it fosters new inquiry, sponsors high-level public and private meetings among multiple stakeholders, and explores policy options to improve outcomes for citizens throughout the Americas. Drawing on the Wilson Center’s strength as the nation’s key non-partisan policy forum, the Program serves as a trusted source of analysis and a vital point of contact between the worlds of scholarship and action.  Read more

Argentina Project

The Argentina Project is the premier institution for policy-relevant research on politics and economics in Argentina.   Read more

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