The mining industry, and states which support it, are pushing for unprecedented expansions in mineral mining under the banner of ‘critical minerals’. Whether justified through the energy transition or ‘national security’, a new ‘gold rush’ for minerals is driving the destruction of communities and ecosystems globally.
As with the extraction of fossil fuels, the extraction of minerals such as lithium, cobalt, nickel and copper is having major environmental impacts including in water shortages, toxic pollution and losses to biodiversity. Communities living on the frontlines of these mines face displacement, severe health problems and violent repression.
Amidst the global scramble for ‘critical minerals’, the UK Government is planning for a doubling and 11-fold increase in the UK’s demand for copper and lithium, supporting mining companies to open and expand mining projects globally.
Yet decarbonisation is possible without vast increases in mineral mining. In reality, the green transition is often used as a smokescreen, with industrial expansions across a range of sectors including the automotive industry, data centres and military production driving projected expansions in mining. While renewable energy technologies require minerals, demand can be scaled down drastically by mandating industrial re-use and recycling to ensure minerals go further, prioritising energy for social needs and scaling up public transport to reduce private vehicle ownership.
London Mining Network are campaigning for a globally just energy transition that minimises mineral demands and respects the rights of mining affected communities. We do this by amplifying the demands of communities on the frontlines of the ‘critical minerals’ rush, producing research and resources exposing the mining industry’s greenwashing and working with climate justice groups and trade unionists to campaign for supply chain justice.
Resources
- Mining affected communities speak out against the UK Government’s new Critical Minerals Strategy
- The UK’s scramble for ‘green’ hydrogen: bad news for southern Africa?
- The corporate electric vehicle transition: driving injustices for communities globally
- Barriers to a Just Transition are not Technical, They are Political. Report from “Resisting Green Imperialism” event
- Transition Mineral Mining 50: the top transition mineral mining companies implicated in an active case on Environmental Justice Atlas
- Britain is banking on a deadly mining boom
Videos
Reports
Here are reports that have been written/researched by members of the LMN Just Transition Working Group:
Post-Extractive Transition (2019)
Webinars
Further resources
- Battery Minerals for the Clean Energy Transition – a useful fact-sheet from Earthworks.
- Transition Minerals Tracker – tracking the human rights implications of the mineral boom powering the transition to a low-carbon economy.
- Salt to Stars – a comic about the environmental and community impact of lithium mining from the Center for Interdisciplinary Environmental Justice.
- What is green imperialism? – a series of short interviews with the speakers and workshop facilitators recorded at our education event “Resisting Green Imperialism, Fighting for a Socially Just Transition,” 30 November 2024.
- Unjust transitions and false prophets: voices from affected communities – recording of the opening plenary at our education event “Resisting Green Imperialism, Fighting for a Socially Just Transition,” 30 November 2024.