By Sharon Atieno
There is need to strengthen the management of environmental, industrial and social risks associated with Critical Energy Transition Minerals (CETMs).
These minerals include lithium, cobalt, nickel, copper and rare earths, which are essential for renewable energy, battery technologies and electrification needed to drive the global energy transition.
Experts said during a high-level discussion at a side event titled “Managing Environmental, Industrial and Social Risks of Critical Energy Transition Minerals: Policies and Solutions for a Resilient Planet” at the seventh session of the United Nations Environment Assembly (UNEA-7) in Kenya’s capital, Nairobi.
The event was co-organised by the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) and the Secretariat of the Basel, Rotterdam and Stockholm (BRS) Conventions, the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), and the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), with the support of the European Commission.
The lifecycle of CETMs, including extraction, processing, transportation, storage, technology production, recycling, and final disposal, carries significant risks. The discussions highlighted how international legal and policy frameworks, as well as technical tools, can help countries manage these risks while advancing a just, inclusive, and sustainable energy transition.
The experts stressed that by harnessing available legal frameworks, tools and guidance, governments, industry and other stakeholders can integrate environmental protection, industrial safety and human rights into CETMs’ risk governance.
“The energy transition cannot succeed if it creates new disasters. If we fail to act now, risks will escalate as demand grows. Climate mitigation is urgent. Yet, it must not lead to preventable tragedies that undermine our global goals,” Tatiana Molcean, UNECE Executive Secretary, said.
“First, we must make safety and resilience non-negotiable. Second, we need to align mineral resource governance with environmental and human rights standards, and third, we must strengthen cooperation across borders and sectors.”
On his part, Rolph Payet, Executive Secretary of the Basel, Rotterdam and Stockholm Conventions, noted that CETMs are key to economic development, energy and digital transitions to mitigate climate change, but their extraction and management at the end of life often present serious risks to human life and the environment.
Payet noted that the Conventions have taken important decisions with regard to those risks and developed technical guidelines and guidance documents for the environmentally sound management of hazardous wastes generated through their life cycle and value chain, as well as developed partnerships with the private sector and civil society.
Elisa Morgera, UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights, stated that the role of international environmental agreements at the nexus of climate, nature, water, food and health is essential to ensure that the energy transition, across and including reliance on minerals, can be truly in support of that transition towards a solar and wind-powered future, supporting the full realisation of human rights.
One key dimension of strengthening CETMs’ risk management includes the use of multilateral environmental agreements (MEAs). These provide concrete tools for CETM risk governance.
UNECE’s Industrial Accidents Convention, for instance, offers measures to prevent and mitigate accidents across the CETMs’ lifecycle, including at tailing management facilities, and to strengthen industrial safety of the energy transition, while the Basel Convention regulates transboundary movements and environmentally sound management of hazardous wastes, including waste batteries and materials from CETMs’ extraction.
To uphold the right to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment, a rights-based approach throughout CETM management ensures that affected communities, workers and civil society have access to information, participation and justice, promoting accountability and equity in decision making. The UNECE Aarhus Convention, open to all UN Member States, provides a binding legal framework to put this into practice.
The cross-sectoral cooperation also strengthens CETM’s risk management. The Secretary-General’s Panel on CETMs discussions highlighted the need for dialogue across sectors and regions. Participants emphasized the need for coordinated implementation of MEAs to address emerging risks and prevent CETM-related industrial accidents.
Besides, resource management tools and traceability are equally important. UNECE’s UN Framework Classification for Resources and UN Resource Management System offer key instruments to support transparent and sustainable resource planning. This ensures projects consider community acceptance, in particular where indigenous communities’ rights are concerned, legal compliance, and fair employment, thus aligning CETM governance with broader energy and development goals.
Enhancing traceability in CETM value chains, including through Digital Product Passports, will further support efforts to address environmental and social challenges in the sector.
The discussions reinforced a shared vision of a resilient, equitable and sustainable energy future – one that protects people and the planet while enabling the responsible use of critical minerals essential for the energy transition. It demonstrated how UN organizations are working together to integrate environmental protection, industrial safety and human rights into CETM risk governance.
