Highlights

• Myanmar's rare earth mining in Kachin State supplies 60% of China's heavy REE imports through destructive and unregulated extraction processes.
• The study exposes how green energy technologies rely on exploitative mining practices that devastate local communities and ecosystems.
• Western nations and corporations are complicit in creating 'sacrifice zones' where marginalized populations bear the environmental and social costs of the energy transition.

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A recent study titled "The Myanmar Borderlands as a Green Energy Transition ‘Sacrifice Zone’: A Case Study of Rare Earth Mining in Kachin State" by Patrick Meehan (SOAS, University of London), Mandy Sadan (University of Warwick), and Dan Seng Lawn (Kachinland Research Centre) was published in The Extractive Industries and Society (opens in a new tab) (2024).

The research examines how Myanmar’s conflict-ridden borderlands have become a crucial supplier of rare earth elements (REEs), essential for green energy technologies such as electric vehicles and wind turbines. The study argues that this extraction has devastating consequences for local communities and the environment, positioning Myanmar’s borderlands as a “sacrifice zone” where marginalized populations disproportionately bear the costs of the global energy transition.

Green Cost—Serious Externalities

The study contends that the shift toward green energy, while necessary for reducing carbon emissions, mirrors the same exploitative extraction patterns historically associated with fossil fuels. Using fieldwork conducted between 2021 and 2023, satellite imagery, trade data, and interviews with local communities and mine workers, the researchers provide compelling evidence of Myanmar’s pivotal role in China’s rare earth supply chain. The findings highlight how Chinese companies exploit Myanmar’s political instability, bypass environmental regulations, and reinforce China’s dominant position in global REE refining.

China, which processes 88% of the world’s rare earth elements, has imposed strict domestic mining restrictions due to environmental concerns. To maintain control over REE supply chains, Chinese companies have outsourced mining to Myanmar, particularly Kachin State, which holds large deposits of dysprosium, terbium, and yttrium—critical for high-tech applications. As a result, Myanmar now accounts for nearly 60% of China’s heavy REE imports. However, these mining operations are largely unregulated, leading to severe environmental destruction, land grabs, and human rights abuses.

Extraction Processes

In-situ leaching extraction involves pumping toxic chemicals into the ground to dissolve rare earth minerals, contaminating rivers, soil, and groundwater. Once extraction is complete, companies abandon the sites, leaving behind hazardous waste and devastated ecosystems. The influx of over 20,000 migrant workers has exacerbated social instability, fueling land dispossession, economic displacement, and worsening drug abuse and crime in mining communities.

Civil War

Rare earth mining in Myanmar also plays a direct role in the country’s ongoing conflict. The New Democratic Army-Kachin (NDA-K) and the Kachin Independence Army (KIA) control mining areas, using royalty payments from Chinese companies to fund their armed struggles. This war economy perpetuates cycles of violence and corruption, benefiting militias and Chinese corporations while leaving local populations with few economic alternatives. Farmers, once reliant on cash crops such as walnuts, black cardamom, and tea, report that Chinese buyers have stopped purchasing their goods due to contamination fears, pushing them into poverty.

‘Green Extractivism’

The study presents Myanmar as a prime example of green extractivism, where the transition to clean energy in the West and China is achieved at the expense of marginalized communities. Wealthy nations demand rare earths for their EVs and wind turbines yet remain detached from the environmental and social costs of their production. The authors call for greater attention to the ethical and geopolitical consequences of outsourcing resource extraction to fragile and conflict-affected regions.

For the United States and its allies, Myanmar’s experience underscores urgent lessons in securing ethical, independent rare earth supply chains. To counter China’s near-monopoly, the U.S. must diversify its sources by investing in Australia, Canada, and domestic mining projects. A lack of domestic REE refining infrastructure forces reliance on China, making public-private investments in refining technologies essential for long-term energy security.

Tesla et al.

Western corporations, including Tesla and General Electric, depend directly or indirectly on conflict-linked rare earth supply chains. Greater supply chain transparency and ethical sourcing standards are necessary to prevent complicity in human rights abuses. Rather than shifting environmental destruction to fragile states, the U.S. and EU should prioritize responsible mining partnerships with democratic nations, ensuring strong labor protections and environmental safeguards.

Green? Think Again

Ultimately, the study challenges the narrative of a “clean” energy transition, exposing the hidden human and ecological costs behind rare earth extraction. If the U.S. and Europe seek true energy independence from China, they must address the ethical dilemmas embedded in their supply chains. Without proactive intervention, Myanmar’s rare earth mining boom will continue to fuel conflict, environmental collapse, and social displacement. A just and sustainable energy transition must not come at the expense of vulnerable communities, and the West must take real action to build a transparent, diversified, and ethical rare earth supply chain.