Critical minerals and the just energy transition: opportunities and challenges

The need to move away from fossil fuels as part of a response to climate change and the ensuing energy transition is increasing the global demand for minerals such as cobalt, copper, lithium and nickel.

Governments in consumer and processing countries are looking to secure their supplies, while many mineral-rich countries are seeking opportunities to benefit more from the increased demand.

The energy transition is accelerating extraction of these minerals, making it urgent to consider the social and environmental impacts.

A ‘just transition’ requires ensuring rights are protected across critical minerals policies and processes. This can involve Indigenous Peoples and local communities claiming their rights and protecting the environment, artisanal miners securing a better deal in supply chain relations, all the way to governments reconfiguring the national laws and international agreements that govern investment and trade in these minerals.

What is IIED doing?

Drawing on past work and several ongoing projects, IIED collaborates closely with partner organisations around the world to:

• Generate evidence on trends, challenges and possible ways forward, both to seize opportunities and address problems
• Engage with governments, business, artisanal miners, civil society and grassroots organisations to support improved mining sector governance, and
• Share lessons internationally.

Examples include:

• In the Democratic Republic of the Congo, collaborating with African Resources Watch (Afrewatch) to conduct research and policy analysis, to disseminate findings and to work with artisanal miners on enhancing their rights in the cobalt sector.
• In Zambia, collaborating with the Zambia Land Alliance (ZLA), the Centre for Trade Policy and Development (CTPD) and the Columbia Centre on Sustainable Investment (CCSI) on supporting grassroots groups and national policy reform in relation to the critical minerals sector.
• In Indonesia, collaborating with CCSI and a coalition of grassroots organisations in Sulawesi on addressing issues related to nickel mining.
• In Chile, collaborating with the Centre for Law, Regulation and Sustainable Economics at the School of Law, University of Valparaíso to conduct research on investment, trade and the rights of Indigenous Peoples and local communities in the context of lithium mining.
• Working with supply chain stakeholders to support responsible artisanal and small-scale mining copper production in Peru.
• Internationally, tracking developments in critical minerals policy, such as negotiations on international partnerships and trade agreements relevant to critical minerals, and engaging in responsible mineral supply chain initiatives, including the European Partnership for Responsible Minerals and the Responsible Minerals Initiative.
• Supporting informed public debate through collaborative events on ways to align critical minerals governance with just transition principles, including: a podcast on critical minerals and the energy transition; an IIED Debate on critical minerals, international policy and a just energy transition; a webinar on leveraging the energy transition for mineral value addition in producer countries; a webinar on land rights and critical minerals; and side events at international policy forums, such as the Fourth International Conference on Financing for Development (FFD4).