- 18.08.2024
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In April 2024, the United Nations Secretary-General (UNSG) António Guterres launched a Panel on Critical Energy Transition Minerals, bringing together governments, intergovernmental and international organisations, industry and civil society. The Panel is tasked with developing a set of global common and voluntary principles to safeguard environmental and social standards across the minerals value chain and embed justice in the energy transition.
However, there is one critical stakeholder group missing from the Panel: The communities who are directly impacted by mining and processing of critical energy transition minerals. We present their experiences in this briefing.
We want the members of the UNSG Panel on Critical Energy Energy Minerals to hear from the people who experience the impacts of ‘green extractivism’ every day. These are the people who see their land, livelihoods, health and rights taken in the name of tackling the climate crisis, and who rarely derive their fair share of benefits from these projects. The views of these frontline communities—about the environmental and social standards that affect them, and about what constitutes a just and sustainable energy transition—are vital if the panel is to meet its objective of “leaving no one and no place behind”.
This briefing provides a snapshot of some of the concerns of community members affected by critical energy transition minerals (lithium, nickel and bauxite) mining and processing in Argentina, Indonesia and Guinea. We urge the Panel members to centre these and other crucial voices of affected communities in their deliberations, and ensure they are reflected in the principles and report to the UN General Assembly in September 2024.
- The briefing is a collaborative project by Recourse, Inclusive Development International, Trend Asia and FARN Argentina.
- Banner photo: Community members stand on a plateau mined for bauxite in Boké, Guinea. Photo by Inclusive Development International.
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