The UN Environment Programme (UNEP) has issued a working paper that explores ways to ensure that growing demand for minerals that drive the global energy transition is neither socially nor environmentally damaging. The paper paints a vision for a future where more efficient and responsible use of critical minerals underpins the green transition, while helping meet climate, biodiversity, and pollution goals.

Titled, ‘Critical Transitions: Circularity, Equity, and Responsibility in the Quest for Energy Transition Minerals,’ the paper flags that the transition to global net-zero emissions by 2050 could require a six-fold increase in demand for certain minerals. It identifies 26 minerals that are critical for the energy transition, many of which can be recycled, delivering improvements in efficiency and circularity. 

Greater efficiency and circularity, the paper argues, could reduce the cumulative need for new minerals by 2050, saving money, minimizing supply risks, and avoiding serious environmental damage. “Responsible mining for the remaining mineral requirements is vital for ensuring that the social and environmental impacts of mining do not damage surrounding communities,” it emphasizes.

The paper calls for concerted action by all stakeholders to make the energy transition sustainable. It identifies eight ‘Rs’ that can guide this action by:

• Collectively Rethinking systems of mobility, housing, and industry to meet the same human needs with fewer minerals;
• Reducing the demand for energy transition minerals through improvements to material and energy efficiency;
• Replacing energy transition minerals for lower impact substitutes, where possible;
• Reusing products in second and third lives while finding ways to Retain the minerals in use for longer;
• Recovering minerals more effectively from production processes and legacy tailings sites and Recycling them into new products; and
• Ensuring minerals that do need to be extracted are extracted in a Responsible way.

The paper underscores that to support a sustainable energy transition, coordinated policies are needed at national and international levels, along with robust data sharing and strong regulatory frameworks to ensure responsible mining and equitable resource distribution. Clear accountability and transparency across mineral supply chains are also essential, as are traceability tools and reliable reporting mechanisms, according to the paper.

The report further highlights that investors and industries also have a role to play in promoting sustainability by investing in low-impact alternatives and implementing the Global Industry Standard on Tailings Management.

The paper was released on 18 November 2024, on day one of the 20th Annual General Meeting (AGM) of the Intergovernmental Forum on Mining, Minerals, Metals and Sustainable Development (IGF). [Publication: Critical Transitions: Circularity, Equity, and Responsibility in the Quest for Energy Transition Minerals] [Publication Landing Page] [UNEP Technical Highlight]