The European Union committed to becoming carbon neutral by 2025, meaning it won’t emit a single ton of carbon dioxide more than it can absorb. To reach this goal, Europeans must upgrade their transport system, which accounts for 75% of EU emissions, with electric vehicles. However, mining activities to supply this may result in new carbon emissions. According to a report commissioned by the European organizations Fern and Rainforest Foundation Norway and produced by the Institute for Ecological Economics and WU Vienna University of Economics and Business, 118,000 hectares (291,584 acres) of forests around the world may be destroyed by 2050 to meet the EU’s green aspirations. “As some mining activities clear large forested areas, they contribute significantly to increased atmospheric CO2 levels, thereby exacerbating climate change,” the report stated. Brazil alone would account for 11.7% of that (13,900 hectares or 34,347 acres). The actual area, however, would likely be much larger, since experts considered only the direct deforestation caused by mines. Indirect clearances from infrastructure expansion, such as building access roads for heavy machinery, settlement growth or land conversion for agriculture that historically follows new roads are not included in the figures. The impact size varies depending on the type of battery cars will use. The so-called NMC 811, for example, is the most common battery in the European market and requires significant amounts of nickel and cobalt. The LFP, conversely, does not require these resources, and it has lower deforestation impacts. In all scenarios analyzed by the report,…This article was originally published on Mongabay