🌱 Who is on the panel?
On 26 April 2024, UN Secretary-General António Guterres launched a new panel on “critical energy transition minerals”. It currently consists of close to 100 countries. Most of the largest producing and consuming countries are on the panel. Both countries from the Global North and the Global South “with interests in the extraction and consumption of critical minerals” are represented. Additionally, several large Institutions including the International Energy Agency, the World Bank, and the largest trade association for mineral producers globally are involved. While several civil society groups are also participating, there has only been “limited input from Indigenous people” to date.
🌱 Why was the panel established?
At COP28, governments had agreed “to triple renewable energy generation capacity globally by 2030”, which also means that the “[d]emand for critical minerals is expected to more than triple”. Cobalt, copper, graphite, lithium, manganese, nickel, and rare earth elements all play an important role in renewable energy technologies – such as electric vehicle batteries, solar panels, and wind turbines. The UN panel now aims to address the “governance gap” in the global mineral resources space.
🌱 What will the panel do?
The panel will create “guidelines for industries that mine raw materials used in low-carbon technology”. Amongst others, the panel will focus on cobalt, copper, lithium, nickel, and rare earth elements. The guidelines the panel creates will optimally help prevent some of the human rights abuses and environmental damage that arise in the context of critical mineral mining. The first draft of the guidelines will be written before the UN general assembly this September. The process will be co-chaired by the European Commission and South Africa. The guidelines will be voluntary and there will be no enforcement mechanism for them. In practice, this means the guidelines will rely largely on companies responsibly monitoring their own supply chains.
🌱 Is justice a consideration in the panel’s work?
The panel aims to “address issues relating to equity, transparency, investment, sustainability and human rights”. António Guterres has said that: “For developing countries, critical minerals are a critical opportunity, to create jobs, diversify economies, and dramatically boost revenues. But only if they are managed properly.” He also stated that: “The race to net zero cannot trample over the poor. The renewables revolution is happening, but we must guide it towards justice.” Notably, the mining of cobalt has caused human rights and labour violations, especially in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The mining of copper has created considerable environmental damage and pollution in several regions.
Read more about the UN panel here:
- https://www.un.org/en/climatechange/critical-minerals
- https://www.unep.org/topics/energy/renewable-energy/critical-minerals