New how-to guide speeds global race for renewable energy

This article is published in association with United Nations.

Governments, industry and other key players can now deploy a new action-oriented toolkit to ensure the global energy transition unfolds with equity, justice and sustainability as demand for minerals for renewables is poised to almost triple by 2030, according to a report released on Wednesday by a diverse expert panel convened by the UN chief.

“Today’s report from the Panel on Critical Energy Transition Minerals is a how-to guide to help generate prosperity and equality alongside clean power,” said UN Secretary-General António Guterres.

Many of today’s rapidly growing clean energy technologies, from wind turbines and solar panels to electric vehicles and battery storage, depend on such critical energy transition minerals as copper, lithium, nickel, cobalt and rare earth elements.

The report identifies ways to ground the renewables revolution in justice and equity so that it spurs sustainable development, respects people, protects the environment and powers prosperity in resource-rich developing countries.

Find out more in our renewable energy explainer here.

Ore containing copper, cobalt and nickel at a mine in eestern Australia.

5 tools for a cleaner, greener, prosperous future

Seven guiding principles for direct action and five recommendations to help put them into practice and address key gaps in international governance are outlined in the 35-page Resourcing the Energy Transition report, penned by energy ministers and other experts from around the world.

Fairness, transparency, investment, sustainability and human rights drive the panel’s recommendations, centred on where minerals are mined and the entire value chain, from refining and manufacturing to transport and end-of-use recycling.

The panel recommended establishing a set of key tools, from an initiative empowering artisanal and small-scale miners in becoming agents of transformation in fostering development, environmental stewardship and human rights to a global mining legacy fund to build trust and address related issues as a result of derelict, ownerless or abandoned mines and strengthen financial assurance mechanisms for mine closure and rehabilitation.

It further recommended building a global traceability, transparency and accountability framework along the entire mineral value chain as well as a high-level expert advisory group to accelerate greater benefit-sharing and economic diversification in critical energy transition minerals value chains.

SDG 7: CLEAN ENERGY FOR ALL

United Nations

SDG 7

• Double global rate of improvement in energy efficiency
• Increase share of renewable energy globally
• Expand infrastructure and upgrade technology for supplying modern, sustainable energy services
• Enhance international cooperation to facilitate access to clean energy research and technology, including renewable energy, energy efficiency and advanced and cleaner fossil-fuel technology
• Expand infrastructure and upgrade technology for supplying modern and sustainable energy services for all in developing nations, in particular least developed countries, small island developing States and land-locked developing countries

International funding for clean energy in developing countries has dropped to just $10.8 billion in 2021 from a peak of $26.4 billion in 2017.

‘We either sink together or rise together’

Central to the report’s guiding principles is the need for cooperation, justice and equity and above all development with respect for human rights at the core, explained panel co-chair Nozipho Joyce Mxakato-Diseko, who served as Ambassador of South Africa to the UN.

“This is a time when cooperation is paramount for nations to effectively address multiple crises,” she said, emphasising that development is an imperative for global economic growth.

“With climate change at the centre of these crises, there is urgency to work together with a clear understanding that we either sink together or rise together on the basis of the common values that have bound nations together thus far, with human rights, justice, equity and benefit sharing guiding us towards shared global prosperity,” Ms. Mxakato-Diseko said.

‘We cannot afford to repeat mistakes of the past’

Panel co-chair Ditte Juul Jørgensen, who also serves as Director-General for Energy at the European Commission, commended the UN chief’s leadership in tackling this transformational issue.

“This is what multilateralism is all about,” she said, recalling that all countries agreed to triple the global renewables capacity and double energy efficiency at last year’s UN Climate Change Conference (COP28).

“We cannot afford to repeat the mistakes of the past,” Ms. Jørgensen said. “We must now seize the opportunity to grow our economies, protect our societies, preserve our environment, and share benefits more justly while we tackle the climate crisis.”

As the world transitions from fossil fuels to renewable energy to reduce global carbon dioxide emissions to net zero by 2050, Ms. Jørgensen said “demand for critical minerals will skyrocket.”

Limiting global warming to 1.5°C to avert the worst impacts of climate change will depend on the sufficient, reliable and affordable supply of these minerals.

Speeding the race to renewables

With large reserves of critical energy transition minerals, developing countries have an opportunity to transform and diversify their economies, create green jobs and foster sustainable local development, according to the panel.

However, mineral resource development has not always met this promise.

Responding to calls from developing countries for globally agreed guidance to ensure responsible, fair and just value chains, the panel brought together governments, intergovernmental and international organizations, industry, and civil society to build trust, guide the just transition and accelerate the race to renewables.

Window for action is closing

As the window closes to limit the global average temperature rise to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels and meet the goals of the Paris Agreement on climate change, the UN chief outlined the road ahead.

“As next steps, I have asked the co-chairs and panel to consult and share the report and its recommendations with Member States and other stakeholders ahead of COP29 later this year,” Mr. Guterres said, pledging the UN system’s support to implement the panel’s work in safeguarding and advancing human rights across the critical minerals value chain.

Through all this, he said, civil society, young people and Indigenous Peoples must be heard and have a seat at the table.

“Together, let’s work to deliver renewable energy that powers a fairer, more just and more prosperous future for all.”