The transition from fossil fuels to renewable energy requires vast amounts of minerals. Without listening to communities affected by mining in the Global South, an energy transition in the Global North which is dependent on expanding extractivism will entrench ecological injustice.
Red Muqui, a collective of 32 non-governmental organisations in Peru, has published a position statement, setting out the need to look beyond the energy transition and extractivism. The position statement calls out the Global North for its flawed and unjust approach to sustainability, and details key measures that would enable Peru to work towards an alternative, post-extractivist transition.
London Mining Network supports this challenge to the Global North to rethink its approach to the energy transition and recognises the urgent need to reduce extractivism and the demands it places on communities in Peru and elsewhere. We stand in solidarity with Red Muqui in calling for alternative approaches of living in harmony with the planet, rooted in communal and Indigenous ways of “good living” which prioritise sustainability, respect and human rights.
Red Muqui’s position statement is available to read in Spanish here. / Se puede leer el posicionamiento de la Red Muqui en español aquí. An English translation of the document is available to read below.