On 16 March 2026, Greenpeace USA held a mobile protest at the opening day of Nvidia’s flagship GTC conference. The message, delivered in the heart of Silicon Valley to expose the semiconductor giant for powering the “AI Revolution” with fossil fuels, demanded that the world’s most valuable company decarbonise its global supply chain through renewable energy.

Shortly before Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang’s keynote address, a triple-billboard truck began circulating around the SAP Center in San Jose, sending a direct message to the CEO: “Hey Jensen, your GPUs powering the AI boom are overheating. So is the planet.” The installation presented two clear paths for the tech giant: “Powering the Apocalypse” through fossil-fuel reliance, or “Powering the Future” through a transition to wind and solar.

Katrin Wu, Supply Chain Project Lead, Greenpeace East Asia, said: “While Nvidia promises to ‘surprise the world’ with its new AI chips at GTC, the true surprise Jensen Huang left unsaid is the staggering scale of Nvidia’s supply chain emissions. Its supply chain emissions now rival the carbon footprints of some nations, while the company has yet to take meaningful action to address them. A world-class new-generation chip should be produced using wind and solar, not fossil fuels. Nvidia must take action to mitigate the environmental dilemma its business has created.”

This activity follows the release of Greenpeace East Asia’s analysis, “Nvidia’s Green Illusion,” which concludes that the company’s supply chain emissions more than doubled in just three years. The environmental burden is concentrated in manufacturing hubs such as South Korea and Taiwan, where power grids remain heavily reliant on fossil fuels.[1] Despite reporting record-breaking revenue in its earnings report last month, Nvidia received an “F” grade in Greenpeace East Asia’s 2025 ranking of 10 global AI giants for lagging behind its peers in decarbonisation and renewable energy adoption.[2]

The San Jose protest is part of a global wave of resistance by Greenpeace organisations around the world against billionaires who prioritise uncontrolled business expansion over ecological limits and people’s well-being.

Susannah Compton, Civic Resistance and Freedoms Campaigner, Greenpeace International, said:“We can all share a dream for a peaceful, abundant future empowered by technological advancements, but profit-hungry Big Tech companies cannot be blindly trusted to get us there. Nvidia’s chips power the AI boom, but the company’s innovation obsession clearly doesn’t extend to a livable planet because its supply chain is still built on fossil fuels. While Big Tech billionaires like Jensen Huang cash in, people and the planet pay the cost of surging emissions in rising bills and extreme weather. Technology must make our collective future better, not worse.”

Greenpeace urges Nvidia to slash its global supply chain emissions by transitioning to renewable energy, invest directly in new wind and solar projects globally, especially in manufacturing regions, and publish transparent annual supplier electricity and emissions data.

ENDS

Notes:

[1] Nvidia’s Green Illusion, Greenpeace East Asia, March 2026[2] Supply Change: Tracking AI Giants’ Decarbonization Progress, Greenpeace East Asia, October 2025

Photos and videos are available in the Greenpeace Media Library.

Contacts:

Yujie Xue, International Communications Officer, Greenpeace East Asia, +852 5127 3416, yujie.xue@greenpeace.org

Greenpeace International Press Desk, +31 (0)20 718 2470 (available 24 hours), pressdesk.int@greenpeace.org 

Amsterdam, Netherlands – Public transportation, improved recycling programmes, and advanced battery technologies are shown as crucial solutions to limit mineral demand for a green transition according to a new report.

‘Beyond Extraction: Pathways for a 1.5°C-aligned Energy Transition with Less Minerals’, was commissioned by Greenpeace International, and authored by academics at the Institute for Sustainable Futures at the University of Technology, Sydney (UTS) in Australia. Using different 1.5°C-compatible energy scenarios to explore pathways toward mineral sufficiency and efficiency, the report shows how Earth’s minerals can be administered for a clean renewable energy transformation that protects vital Earth support systems from terrestrial or deep sea mining of so-called ‘critical minerals’.

“Mining often brings environmental destruction and social harm. It is reportedly linked to child labour, workers’ rights violations, land grabs from Indigenous Peoples, ecosystem damage, and threats to communities. Around the world, the minerals ‘rush’ repeats extractivist and colonial patterns, disregards the rights of Indigenous Peoples and local communities, and threatens to undermine the very possibility of a just and green energy transition,” says Elsa Lee, Co-Head of Biodiversity at Greenpeace International.

“We all want a just world where energy is clean, affordable and available to everyone, rights are respected, peoples’ land access and livelihoods are protected, and our planet has a stable climate and rich biodiversity. With this report we underline that it is incumbent upon our governments who regulate the extractive industry to power an ambitious energy transition without mining critical ecosystems on land or at sea,” added Lee.

A key recommendation of the report is that decision makers must prioritise mineral use for essential energy transition purposes. In an era of eroding international cooperation and intensifying conflict, this underscores the importance of coordinated action to protect people and nature, and achieve climate objectives. 

Greenpeace International deep sea mining campaigner Ruth Ramos said: “Lines have been crossed on the land that need never be crossed in the deep ocean. Now we know: not only does deep sea mining run against science, ethics, people and the planet, it’s not even needed for a renewable transition. What is needed is for the nations of the world to unite against rogue actors like The Metals Company and Donald Trump and their affronts to international law and cooperation, and instead keep moving towards a moratorium on deep sea mining. Imagine if humans could have protected the world from the harms of the fossil fuel industry before it even started – that is the opportunity when it comes to deep sea mining: it is a historic privilege, and one we must now embrace wholeheartedly.”

As part of the report, potential mineral reserves areas were compared with areas that – due to their exceptional environmental, ecological, and social importance – must be off-limits to mining. The analysis finds that there is no need to mine these off-limits areas—including, amongst others, the global ocean and protected areas on land —for an ambitious energy transition.

Report author Professor Sven Teske said: “This research highlights how sound policies and innovative technologies can limit mineral demand in a 1.5°C-aligned energy transition. Realising this potential, however, requires responsible political leadership and decisive action today.”

ENDS

Notes:

Report: Beyond Extraction: Pathways for a 1.5°C-aligned Energy Transition with Less Minerals

Research briefing for Beyond Extraction report

Photos available in the Greenpeace Media Library

Contacts:

Greenpeace International Press Desk, +31 (0)20 718 2470 (available 24 hours), pressdesk.int@greenpeace.org 

Lithium, nickel, copper, and cobalt are often framed by States and industries as “critical minerals” – a reflection of political priorities rather than actual societal needs. As the demand for these minerals is predicted to grow for energy transition technologies as well as other sectors, such as big tech and the military sector, its supply chains have become a geopolitical battleground. This has governments scrambling to control supply chains, while companies opportunistically pursue extraction, which can infringe on the ancestral lands of Indigenous Peoples, and risk the destruction of vital ecosystems. 

We must achieve an ambitious, Paris Agreement-aligned energy transition that safeguards critical ecosystems and centers the rights of Indigenous Peoples and those of local communities. But it requires the right political choices and moral leadership.

“Beyond Extraction: Pathways for a 1.5°C-aligned Energy Transition with Less Minerals”, is a collaboration between Greenpeace International and the Institute for Sustainable Futures at the University of Technology Sydney.

The study focuses on nine key energy transition minerals: cobalt, copper, dysprosium, graphite, lithium, manganese, neodymium, nickel, and vanadium. 

Scenario analysis was used in this study to explore how different technological and policy pathways can shape future mineral demand from 2024-2050. 

The scenarios are: 

1) One Earth Climate Model Net Zero (OECM), aligned with the Paris climate goals and set as a base case for the study;

2) Progressive (PRO), and 

3) Progressive Accelerated Sodium-ion Battery (PRO-Na-ion). 

This global research – the first of its kind – shows that we can power an ambitious energy transition without sacrificing crucial ecosystems – whether on land or at sea. More public transportation, ambitious recycling programmes, and battery technology choices all contribute to reducing the mineral demand for energy transition. 

In an era of fraying international cooperation and intensifying conflict, this research underscores the importance of coordinated action to protect people and nature from the minerals “rush”, and achieve climate objectives. Responsible political leadership must prioritise mineral use for essential energy transition purposes and ensure that rights are respected, and peoples’ land access and livelihoods are protected.

Download the report and other materials: 

Download the research briefing. 

Download the report “Beyond Extraction: Pathways for a 1.5°C-aligned Energy Transition with less Minerals”. 

Download supplementary documents:
1) development of a restricted areas map and

2) minerals mapping approach and integration (reserve Proxy Area analysis)