Commentary: Global energy transition must hear the voices of communities affected by transition mineral mining
"Transition minerals: A climate solution that could cost the earth" 10 July 2024
Transition minerals – such as cobalt, nickel, lithium, copper and rare earths – are used in components of renewable technologies such as electric vehicles, solar panels and wind turbines. Consequently, they are in huge demand as part of the global energy transition...
...if the energy transition is to live up to these ambitions, the voices of communities affected by mining for these minerals must be heard and not drowned out in political greenwash...
Mining can be an extremely lucrative business, but power and profit usually lies in the hands of unscrupulous extractive companies..."value addition" for communities is often framed by politicians and industry executives in terms of financial gains through increased payments and revenue sharing. This is an overly simplistic view that fails to take into account the views of resource-rich countries and local people...
Global Witness' investigations have repeatedly revealed how mining corporations are complicit in corruption, human rights abuses and environmental destruction... toxic rare earth mining industry in Myanmar was polluting landscapes, causing health issues for local communities and poisoning waterways; three emerging lithium mines in Zimbabwe, Namibia and Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) risk fuelling corruption and causing a range of other environmental, social and governance problems for local communities...
Stronger regulations and best practice need to be implemented to reduce the environmental and social impacts of mining for minerals that are critical to the energy transition.
We need effective and binding mechanisms that hold the mining industry, governments and legislators to account for the impact they have on communities and the environment, and to also tackle corruption in supply chains.
The perspectives of resource-rich countries, local communities and mine workers must be fed into government policies and corporate regulations and practices along the entire mineral supply chain...