UN Secretary General convenes panel on critical minerals for the energy transition | News | SDG Knowledge Center

UN Secretary-General António Guterres has appointed a new panel “to develop a set of common and voluntary global principles to safeguard environmental and social standards and embed justice in the energy transition.” The panel brings together a diverse group of governments and stakeholders from across the minerals value chain.

Co-chaired by Nozipho Joyce Mxakato-Diseko (South Africa) and the European Commission’s Director-General for Energy, Ditte Juul Jørgensen, the 38-member Panel on Critical Minerals for the Energy Transition will work on issues related to equity, transparency, investment , sustainability, and human rights.

Launching the Panel, the UN Secretary-General noted that to achieve net zero by 2050, demand for critical minerals, such as copper, lithium, nickel, cobalt and rare earth metals, is projected to grow three and a half times in the course. of this decade. For developing countries with large reserves, the “renewable energy revolution” is a critical opportunity to create jobs, diversify economies and increase incomes, ensuring they can achieve the SDGs, he stressed.

Recognizing toxicity, pollution, child labor and benefits not reaching communities among the challenges associated with the extraction of critical minerals, Guterres said addressing them requires investments, an institutional framework, adequate laws and adequate relations between States. members and the companies that exploit those resources. .

The governments and intergovernmental members of the Panel are the African Union (AU), Australia, Botswana, Brazil, Canada, Chile, China, Colombia, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Egypt, the EU, India, Indonesia, Japan, Kazakhstan . , Namibia, South Africa, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), the United Kingdom, the United States, Vietnam, Zambia and Zimbabwe.

The non-state actors on the Panel are the Climate Action Network (CAN), the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI), the Responsible Mining Assurance Initiative (IRMA), the International Council on Mining and Metals (ICMM), the International Energy Agency. (IEA), the Intergovernmental Forum on Mining, Minerals, Metals and Sustainable Development (IGF), IndustriALL Global Union, the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA), the Natural Resources Governance Institute (NRGI), the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI), the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues (UNPFII), the United Nations Secretary-General’s Youth Advisory Group on Climate Change and the World Bank.

The Panel on Critical Minerals for the Energy Transition was launched on 26 April 2024. (UN Press Release) (UN News) (UNEP Press Release)