As the U.S., Europe, China and Japan in the northern hemisphere race to put electric vehicles on roads by offering subsidies and building infrastructure, southern hemisphere nations rich in the minerals EVs need to roll along those roads are mounting a challenge for control of the automotive revolution.

Bolivia, one of the southern hemisphere countries trying to engineer this power shift, has agreed to let China give it a hand.

The mineral-rich nation and the factory of the world have partnered on Bolivia’s Uyuni Salt Flat, where a complex lithium production plant was completed in December.

A Chinese consortium led by battery giant CATL will give Bolivia technical assistance as it goes about chasing its goal of producing up to 50,000 tons of lithium per year.

Its recent production volume? About 540 tons per year.

Much to its chagrin, the landlocked South American country, which sits on the world’s largest lithium reserves, finds itself apart from the international supply chain for the key EV battery ingredient.

Lacking adequate extraction technology, the Bolivian government began trying to develop its lithium deposits in cooperation with U.S. companies in the 1980s and German companies in 2018.

Both attempts were foiled by opposition from local residents and labor groups.

To avoid repeating the mistakes that led to those failures, the CATL-led consortium agreed to only handle the productization of lithium and to involve Bolivian state-owned companies in plant operations and product sales.

However, the same headwinds that chased away the Americans and Germans remain. While a Bolivian newspaper has argued that the participation of foreign capital in lithium extraction projects is illegal, a local think tank has warned of a possibility of accelerating drought in the region.

Bolivia is not the only mineral-rich southern hemisphere society struggling to leverage its resources and ride the EV boom. In New Caledonia, a French territory in the South Pacific, a nickel mine contracted by Tesla has been struggling.

A two-hour drive from Noumea, the territory’s largest city, brings one to a massive nickel deposit, the Goro mine.

The mine was developed despite local opposition as well as deforestation and other ecosystem concerns. It has suffered a series of accidents. In 2009, acid used for refining leaked during a test operation. Four more accidents have followed, polluting a river and killing many fish.

“The environmental risk of the Goro mine is inherently high,” said Hiroyuki Katayama, director of the Sydney office of the Japan Organization for Metals and Energy Security, adding that the nickel content of the ore is so low that high temperatures and pressure are required to melt it.

In 2021, Tesla signed a multi-year deal with Prony Resources, which holds stakes in the mine, to procure about 42,000 tons of nickel. Prony posted on its website that “Tesla’s commitment will ensure a prioritization of sustainable development, which is at the heart of its corporate mission.”

But a year later an accident occurred when there was a leak from a dam due to heavy rain, spreading a saline liquid into the surrounding environment.

Nikkei requested an interview with Tesla but received no response by the time of publication. Prony declined to comment on the specifics. A local environmental research organization said the mine is under increased scrutiny by the administration and environmental groups.

According to International Energy Agency forecasts, global EV sales will reach 31 million units in 2030, more than four times those of 2022. Yano Research Institutes of Japan expects the global market size of lithium-ion batteries for vehicles to expand by 3.6 times from 2022 to 2035.

This kind of demand not only triggers local opposition movements in the Global South but also prompts mineral-rich countries to use their natural resources to climb the value chain.

Indonesia, the world’s largest producer and reserve holder of nickel, in January 2020 banned the export of unprocessed nickel ore. “The downstreaming and industrialization must be done in our homeland to maximize added value for the sake of national interests,” President Joko Widodo said in a speech in August 2022.

Since the 2020 ban, Indonesia’s raw material exports have given way to processed product shipments. What’s more, export prices have risen significantly.

Countries that do not have resources are also eager to join the EV race.

In the Clarion-Clipperton Zone, an international area on the seabed off Mexico where nodules containing nickel and cobalt are scattered, Nauru, a small island nation much closer to Australia, is claiming resource ownership.

The Metals Company, a Canadian mining startup with seabed exploration technology, announced a plan to start commercial mining in the area in 2021. Nauru has expressed its full support, by sponsoring the company to conduct experimental exploration in the area.

The surrounding seabed is managed by the International Seabed Authority, a United Nations body, and it is a common understanding that environmental impact studies are required in protected areas out of consideration for the ecosystem. For this reason, Nauru’s claims had sparked a backlash from ISA member states.

Yet, there is no international regulation to forcibly stop such developments, and many experts point out that it is unclear whether the Canadian startup’s mining activities can be stopped or restrained.

Pope Francis, who in 2023 visited Africa, including the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), where nearly half of the world’s cobalt is buried, denounced “economic colonialism,” in which foreign capital exploits an undeveloped country’s natural resources, and commanded, “Hands off Africa.”

The pope’s words were supportive of the resource-rich country, particularly considering that the DRC government is asking foreign companies to transfer shares to local outfits.

The green revolution — the drive toward a carbon-neutral society — is not exclusive to the Global North, and the Global South is now poised to take its reins. The tug of war between the North and South, or resource users and resource producers, is likely to intensify.