"Recharging Community Consent: Mining companies, battery minerals, and the battle to break from the past", 22 September 2023

About the report

The expansion of mining within the context of the global energy transition needs a fundamental shift toward securing the full support and consent of Indigenous peoples and frontline communities. In its recently published policy brief, "Recharging Community Consent: Mining companies, battery minerals, and the battle to Break from the past" Oxfam evaluates mining companies' commitments to Indigenous rights -particularly Free, Prior, and Informed Consent (FPIC)- associated to the battery mineral sector. To do so, the report examines publicly accessible policies on human rights, indigenous peoples, and gender of 43 companies involved in the exploration and production of five minerals crucial for rechargeable lithium-ion batteries: cobalt, nickel, lithium, graphite, and copper.

Main findings

The policy brief reveals that while many of the studied companies show some level of commitment to Indigenous peoples, human rights, and gender equity, these policies often have significant limitations. Commitments to Indigenous rights and human rights due diligence lack clarity on implementation, and gender equity policies primarily focus on workforce diversity, neglecting the gendered impacts on host communities from company operations. Moreover, explicit commitments regarding human rights defenders are insufficient to prevent retaliation. Exploration and pre-production companies generally exhibit weaker policy commitments across all issues studied. The research underscores that the battery mining sector, particularly in lithium, cobalt, and graphite sectors, is ill-prepared to support a just energy transition under current policies. Exploration companies fall short of international norms, indicating a lack of priority for human rights and community consent.

Recommendations

• Implementing structural changes is imperative to empower Indigenous peoples and frontline communities, granting them control over mining on their lands to ensure responsible battery production and usage.
• Companies must adopt strong FPIC policies that conform to international human rights standards and commit unequivocally to halt projects in the absence of community consent.
• Companies must establish the necessary operational guidance, internal infrastructure, and resource allocation to facilitate human rights due diligence, establish accessible and efficient grievance mechanisms, incorporate gender-sensitive FPIC processes, and offer protection for human rights defenders.
• Mining companies should provide proof of the effectiveness and results of their consultation and FPIC procedures, while also committing to undergo credible third-party validation processes like IRMA. Governments and industry associations should likewise endorse and facilitate these standards.

Company responses

Oxfam reached out to all 43 companies from whom they evaluated human rights policies. The companies were invited to an interview (or to provide a write written response) to ensure the understanding of the policies was correct. In addition, companies were provided with a draft with the main findings before the report was released for further feedback. 15 companies attended the interview or provided a written response, and 4 additional companies commented on the draft. The companies which provided who engaged in the process can be found in the report`s annex.