New research published today (10 July 2024) examines the rising trend of lawsuits against renewable energy and transition mineral mining firms for systemic human rights abuses. The Business & Human Rights Resource Centre (BHRRC) has documented 60 legal cases launched around the world by Indigenous Peoples, other communities and workers directly impacted by human rights harms associated with the growth of the renewable energy value chain – threatening to derail the rapid transition to clean energy that the world desperately relies on. More than 70% of these cases have been filed since 2018, highlighting an uptick in this type of litigation as the energy transition has picked up steam.

The report, Unjust transition on trial, highlights cases brought against the private sector and states in transition mineral mining and three renewable energy sectors (solar, wind and hydropower). These cases were found to be challenging a wide range of harms, with nearly 80% seeking to permanently or temporarily halt the project in question because of alleged human rights and environmental abuses, particularly where firms have failed to properly consult hosting communities. 

Key findings included: 

• Environmental issues are particularly prominent. Three quarters of legal cases (77%) relate to rights to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment, while four in five (80%) cases are related to water pollution and/or access to water.
• Almost half (45%) of the cases were brought due to project impacts on the livelihoods of communities, highlighting the broader effects of some transition projects. Land rights violations were recorded in 32% of lawsuits and 45% of cases related to the impact of projects on notable or protected areas.
• The transition mineral mining sector was home to the most legal cases alleging human rights harms globally, associated with 67% of all recorded cases. Cases against the wind (9), hydropower (9) and solar (2) sectors are also on the rise, highlighting the urgent need for more rights-centred operations across the full renewable energy value chain.
• Cases against the hydropower sector* represent 15% of cases. Nearly 80% of these included impacts on access to water rights.
• Just transition litigation is largely community-driven. Nearly 40% of legal cases have been brought by frontline communities seeking to protect their rights, even as many express support for the global energy transition itself.
• Over half of the cases were filed by Indigenous Peoples (55%), mostly in Latin America, but also in the US, Norway, Kenya and Taiwan.
• This is a global trend: most cases have been filed in Latin America (35), followed by North America (9), with the remainder in Africa, East Asia and the Pacific, Europe and the Caribbean (16).

Elodie Aba, Senior Legal Researcher, Business & Human Rights Resource Centre, said: “Climate change is the greatest threat to human rights – and we know a rapid and vast overhaul of our global energy systems is crucial to contain the climate crisis. Accelerating climate breakdown demands a rapid transition to zero carbon economies globally, which will result in enormous benefits for the world, particularly those populations who have been most vulnerable to the impacts of the climate crisis – but have typically contributed the least to it. Achieving these goals requires massive investment in renewable energy projects on vast tracts of land and record extraction of transition minerals – but this cannot come at the expense of the rights of frontline communities, Indigenous Peoples and workers.

“Abuses of land and environmental rights, Free, Prior and Informed Consent for Indigenous Peoples, and labour rights, among others, are fuelling growing resistance to the idea that these violations are an inevitable cost of the world’s clean energy transition. Frontline communities are demanding more from the development of energy transition projects on their lands. We are seeing a growing tide of litigation, which makes clear new models of project development that place human rights alongside commercial interests are increasingly non-negotiable. These cases aren’t challenging the urgent need to transition to clean energy, but rather how we do it – demanding a truly just transition, where the rights, interests and ambitions of host communities and workers are at the centre of project planning.

“Companies and investors associated with the renewable energy value chain must urgently address these risks. In addition to posing a threat to the crucial goal of a just energy transition, companies accused of violating communities’ and workers’ rights face costly delays, reputational impacts and legal consequences – including fines, hefty damages awards and orders to establish trust funds for harms. Robust implementation of human rights responsibilities by business from the initial phases of any project can help build public trust in the energy transition, ensuring it can be fast because it is fair. The private sector must urgently commit to shared prosperity, fair negotiations and a duty of care for the human rights of those directly impacted by the energy transition. The rising number of legal challenges makes it clear that disregard for the human rights of host and frontline communities is likely to derail the much-needed clean energy transition.”

Case studies and embargoed copies of the report are available upon request.

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Notes to editors: 

• Business & Human Rights Resource Centre (BHRRC) is an international NGO that tracks the human rights impacts of companies across the globe.
• *The Resource Centre recognises that many communities do not consider hydropower or biomass as renewable sources. We include them in our analysis because they are part of many government climate action plans and to get an overview of the most salient risks.

Media contact: Priyanka Mogul, Senior Communications Officer (Media/PR), Business & Human Rights Resource Centre, [email protected]