🌱 What are the concerns?
The demand for minerals critical to the energy transition is expected to rise considerably, as governments phase out fossil fuels and move to triple the capacity of global renewable energy by 2030. In light of this, the extraction of critical minerals is also expected to triple by 2030. Notably, “the extraction and processing of [critical] minerals often takes place in developing countries, far from public scrutiny and without consent from local communities, which can be left with the burden of pollution but little economic benefit”. At COP29, several experts therefore expressed their concerns that the environmental degradation and “violation of communities being experienced in fossil fuels exploration could be replicated as transition to renewable energy intensifies”.
🌱 What role does the energy sector play?
The energy sector is “crucial in tackling the impacts of climate change”. Therefore, it is also important “to ensure the transition to renewable energy does not replicate the impacts of fossil fuels”. This means that the extraction of minerals for the energy transition optimally “must ensure that there is prosperity, poverty elimination and drive sustainable development”. As a lot of critical raw minerals are sourced from the African continent, there is also “a need to ensure there are benefits accruing from minerals instead of shipping them out of the African continent only for finished products to be shipped in”. To make this possible, countries in Africa however need there to be a “technology transfer as well as resources in order to [be] actively involved in the transition process”.
🌱 What are the hopes?
At COP29, several stakeholders pushed for more transparency in critical mineral supply chains. They argued that local environments need to be better protected and that economies can be improved along the way. Notably, the UN Secretary-General, António Guterres even said that: “For developing countries rich in those resources, this is a huge opportunity: to generate prosperity, eliminate poverty and to drive sustainable development.”
🌱 Why is the UN calling for more traceability?
The efforts to create a binding global treaty on the traceability of critical minerals started at the recent UN Biodiversity Conference in Cali, Colombia. The goal is to have the treaty ready for signing by the next UN climate talks in Belém, Brazil in November 2025. At COP29, António Guterres again called for stricter rules to be enacted globally for parties involved in the critical mineral value chain. He said that the UN “will also take forward the recommended global traceability, transparency and accountability framework for the entire mineral value chain”. He added that “[t]his will help to drive responsible production, safeguarding human rights and the environment”.
Read more about the talks here:
- https://www.undp.org/policy-centre/governance/events/strategic-engagement-dialogue-critical-minerals
- https://news.un.org/en/story/2024/11/1156881
- https://www.un.org/zh/node/224173
- https://www.esi-africa.com/africa/africa-and-europe-to-unite-around-mining-critical-minerals/