The global energy transition represents one of the greatest opportunities for economic and industrial transformation in Latin America and the Caribbean. The foundations of the new decarbonized economy are not abstract: they rest on the critical minerals found in our territories and on the availability of secure, competitive and increasingly clean energy for their extraction, processing and transformation under high environmental and social standards.
Our region holds a privileged strategic position. We have mineral resources of global significance, one of the world’s most renewable electricity mixes, and substantial potential to continue adding clean and competitive energy sources. This convergence offers an opportunity far greater than supplying raw materials: it can enable more sustainable mining, attract long-term investment, develop technological capabilities and strengthen productive linkages that generate greater value added in our countries.
Capturing this opportunity requires us to align even more closely two agendas that are deeply connected: mining planning and energy planning. New mining projects will require infrastructure and reliable energy supply, while the deployment of renewable energy and power grids will benefit from closer coordination with the planning of mining territories. For our countries to become more competitive and for the energy transition to be truly sustainable, this relationship must be understood as an integrated development equation.
This is where regional integration becomes strategically important. Interconnected power systems, coordinated planning, stronger regulatory frameworks and the development of productive and infrastructure corridors can expand investment opportunities, improve supply security and resilience, and allow Latin America and the Caribbean to use its advantages and complementarities more efficiently.
Connecting our mineral resources, the region’s energy potential and its productive capabilities also creates an opportunity to generate quality employment, foster knowledge, promote technology transfer and develop infrastructure that contributes to territorial development.
This White Paper is an invitation to continue in that direction. From OLACDE, we make this document available to governments, the private sector, academia and civil society as a contribution to regional dialogue and to building a shared vision for the future of mining and energy. We hope its diagnoses and proposals will help align decisions, reinforce regional cooperation and integration, and transform our natural advantages into sustainable drivers of investment, innovation, employment and well-being for Latin America and the Caribbean.