The United Nations thrown out a new panel to develop mining guidelines for critical minerals in high demand for electric vehicles and renewable energy technologies.
The newly created Panel on Critical Minerals for the Energy Transition includes representatives from nearly 100 countries, as well as non-profit organizations and industry groups. It is tasked with developing “a set of common, voluntary global principles to safeguard environmental and social standards and embed justice (in) the energy transition.”
Boosting an economy with renewable energy is a mineral-intensive task. And it will take a concerted effort to stop human rights violations and environmental damage related to the extraction of those minerals. This is just a first step in addressing a problem that could grow much larger without safety barriers.
Powering an economy with renewable energy is a mineral-intensive effort
Demand for minerals used in renewable energy technologies is expected to increase almost quadruple by 2030. That includes lithium, cobalt and copper used in batteries for electric vehicles and wind and solar systems. Building an electric vehicle requires about six times more mineral resources than building a gas-guzzling car, and an onshore wind plant requires up to nine times more minerals than a gas-powered plant. according to the International Energy Agency.
The supply chains for these minerals are already plagued by accusations of human rights violations and labor and environmental abuses. A supplier of materials for Tesla batteries has racked up at least 70 complaints of abuse since 2010. The edge reported last year. This included poor working conditions at a cobalt mine in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, where workers said The edge They had to work long hours in oppressive heat and with little water, food or pay.
There are limitations to what the United Nations can do to change things. While advocates representing environmental groups and indigenous people affected by mining have some seats at the table, industry representatives on the panel will also shape the guidelines. The International Mining and Metals Council, which represents a third of the global mining and metals industry, is a member of the panel.
And at the end of the day, the panel is only issuing non-binding recommendations on best practices. “The fact that these are only voluntary principles means that there will be no enforcement mechanism for any guidelines that are developed. In the end, voluntary guidelines are only as good as those who are willing to commit to them,” explained Laura Kelly, director of sustainable markets research at the International Institute for Environment and Development think tank. said The Guardian.
The U.N. panel is expected to share draft voluntary guidelines with the U.N. General Assembly in September.
“A world powered by renewable energy is a world hungry for critical minerals”, UN Secretary General António Guterres saying during the launch of the new panel on Friday. “The renewable energy revolution is underway, but we must guide it toward justice.”
