A visual dossier of the data behind the book. How the Global North's "clean energy transition" drives extraction, debt, and dispossession across the Global South.
52%
US, EU & China together account for over half of current global carbon emissions
+63%
Global emissions increase from 1990 to 2017 — during decades of climate negotiations
+350%
China's emissions alone surged 350% in the same period, driven by coal-powered growth
Source: Our World in Data; Eurostat; Ch.4 (Feffer & Lander)
43×
Lithium Demand Increase
Predicted by 2040 vs. 2020 levels, driven by EV batteries and energy storage (IEA)
2M L
Fresh Water per Ton of Lithium
Each ton of lithium from Chile's Atacama salt flats consumes ~2 million litres of fresh water (Garcés, Univ. of Antofagasta)
>50%
of global proven lithium reserves in the South American "Lithium Triangle" (Argentina, Bolivia, Chile)
~500%
projected increase in graphite, lithium & cobalt extraction by 2050 for "clean energy" (Minerals for Climate Action report)
3B+
tonnes of minerals & metals needed for wind, solar & geothermal to keep warming below 2°C
Sources: IEA World Energy Outlook; Minerals for Climate Action (2020); Ch.1 (Dietz); Ch.2 (Svampa)
Annual net resource flows from the Global South to the Global North, 1990–2020 averages (Ch.6, Dorninger)
7 Gt
Raw Materials
107 EJ
Embodied Energy
430 M ha
Embodied Land
240 M
Person-Year Equivalents
$343 T
Total Drain 1990–2020 (Northern Prices)
Equivalent to 26% of Northern GDP annually — a hidden subsidy from the South to the North
86×
Drain exceeds Official Development Assistance (ODA) by a factor of 86
$101 T
Total Drain 1990–2020 (Global Average Prices)
Even at fairer global-average compensation, the drain averaged 23% of Southern GDP (27% excluding China)
8×
Southern labor compensated ~8× less per unit than Northern labor (2020)
Sources: Hickel, Dorninger et al. (2022); GLORIA MRIO database; Ch.6 (Dorninger)
3,000 ha
Ouarzazate Solar Plant, Morocco
Land taken from Amazigh agro-pastoralist communities without consent. Project contracted $9 billion in debt from the World Bank & European Investment Bank.
4,141 ha
Noor Midelt Project, Morocco
Confiscated communal land of three ethnic agrarian communities. Total project cost exceeds $2 billion. Displaced pastoralist Sidi Ayad tribe.
>1,000 MW
Combined wind farm capacity in occupied Western Sahara — built on Saharawi land without consent
40 GW
EU target for green hydrogen imports from North Africa by 2030 under the "2×40 GW" initiative
89%
of Africa's gas infrastructure built for export — not for African energy access
⚠️ $230 Billion
Planned new oil & gas projects in Africa over the next decade, locking in fossil dependency despite climate pledges. (Ch.9, Bassey)
Sources: ATTAC Morocco; World Bank project documents; Western Sahara Resource Watch; Ch.3 (Hamouchene); Ch.9 (Bassey)
1503–1660
From Latin America to Europe: 185,000 kg of gold and 16 million kg of silver recorded in the Archives of Seville
At today's value, this exceeds the total external debt of all Latin American countries combined. (Ch.7, Lang, Acosta & Martínez)
$30.9 B
Investment needed for Indonesia's EV battery supply chain
Indonesia — top nickel producer — faces $1bn ISDS lawsuits for prioritising domestic processing over raw exports. 339 active mining permits across 836,000 hectares. (Ch.10, Hertanti)
550+ Families Displaced
By the Afungi LNG Park in Cabo Delgado, Mozambique — coastal fishing communities relocated 10km inland. (Ch.9)
95% of Foreign Exchange
Nigeria's oil & gas sector contributes only 6% of GDP but 95% of foreign exchange and 80% of government revenue. (Ch.9)
Sources: Ch.7 (Lang, Acosta & Martínez); Ch.9 (Bassey); Ch.10 (Hertanti); Indonesia for Global Justice
-7.6% /year
Global emissions reduction needed annually to stay below 1.5°C warming (UNEP)
-10% /year
Required for major historical emitters (e.g. Spain, accounting for ecological debt)
-68%
CO₂ emissions cut (degrowth path)
-80%
Maritime traffic reduction
30-32 hrs
Work week enabling net job creation
A Green New Deal scenario only achieved -45% emissions — insufficient. (Ch.15, González Reyes)
Sources: UNEP Emissions Gap Report 2019; Ch.15 (González Reyes); Ch.14 (Akbulut)
2,700+
Rice varieties conserved in community seed banks
538
Other food crop varieties (veg, oil, lentils, spices)
40%
Uncultivated food in rural diets — 100% for the landless
300,000+ farming families. Biodiversity-based, women-led, anti-GMO. (Ch.16, Akhter)
80%
Of the world's food supply comes from 500 million small family farms (FAO)
84%
Bangladeshi farms are under 1 hectare — yet industrial policies drive agriculture's GDP share from 49% to 12.9%
Small farms feed the world. Corporate agriculture destroys biodiversity. (Ch.16, Akhter)