Declaration on Mining and the Energy Transition
We, the undersigned organizations, support a just and rapid transition away from fossil fuels and towards a renewable energy system. We are concerned about the impacts of extracting minerals, such as lithium, cobalt, nickel and copper for renewable energy technologies on communities, workers and ecosystems around the world.
Minerals demand for renewable energy technologies is projected to skyrocket, particularly for battery metals being used in electric vehicles—and the associated environmental and human impacts are likely to rise steeply as well. Metals mining is one of the world’s dirtiest industries, responsible for at least 10% of anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions. Mining is linked to environmental destruction, freshwater contamination and depletion, human rights abuses, forced displacement, loss of livelihood, violent conflict, unsafe working conditions, and illicit financial flows in many parts of the world. It increasingly poses threats to ocean health through the risky practice of mine waste dumping and deep-sea mining.
Dangerous mine waste storage and disposal have led to deaths and catastrophic destruction of downstream environments as well as the contamination of fragile marine ecosystems, fisheries and coastal communities. Mining, including for battery minerals such as cobalt, lithium and nickel causes disproportionate harm to Indigenous Peoples.
Our transition to renewable energy sources must be just and equitable and accompanied by a simultaneous transformation away from irresponsible mining by:
- Centering the human rights of Indigenous, frontline communities, and workers at mining, recycling, reclamation, manufacturing and renewable energy projects, by prioritizing the right to Free, Prior and Informed Consent, including the right to withhold consent as aligned with the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.
- Prioritizing low-impact circular economy solutions that reduce the overall demand for primary metals such as reuse, reduction, recycling, and design for disassembly while ensuring health and safety protections for workers and communities.
- Ensuring responsible minerals sourcing at existing mining operations through legally binding regulations to protect human rights, the environment and sacred sites at the state and international level; demanding mandatory human rights due diligence and adherence to all legal requirements; and stringent international environmental and human rights standards with independent, third-party verification of compliance[1].
- Implementing transformative, rather than merely technological, solutions that shift away from disposable consumption and private transportation to more equitable access to services and low-carbon public transit.
We call on climate negotiators to make a binding commitment to source transition minerals responsibly. We call on businesses, financial institutions, investors and governments to ensure a clean, just and equitable energy transition by implementing these measures and urge clean energy advocates and climate justice allies to echo these demands in climate change platforms.
A truly clean, just and equitable energy economy will require not just a transition to cleaner sources of energy, but transformation on an individual and collective level. We urge you to join us and ensure that the move to clean energy doesn’t recreate the same systems it aims to destroy and helps to build climate change solutions that put communities, workers and the environment first.
[1] Such as the IRMA Standard for Responsible Mining.
Sign on to the Declaration on Mining and Energy Transition
We urge decision-makers to center not only climate justice, but also the environmental justice impacts of mining for battery minerals and renewable energy technologies.
List of Declaration Signatories
350Hawaii
Sherry Pollack
Co-Founder
United States
350NYC
Dorian Fulvio
United States
Action for Ecology
& People Emancipation
Pius Ginting
Coordinator
Indonesia
ActionAid Australia
Katherine Tu
Head of Campaigns & Policy
Australia
Adorers of the Blood of Christ
Sara Dwyer, ASC
JPIC Contact
United States
Africa Institute for Energy Governance
Denis Mugisha
Chief Executive Officer
Uganda
African Resource Watch
Umpula Nkumba Emmanuel
Directeur Exécutif
Africa
Aktionsgruppe Indianer & Menschenrechte
Monika Seiller
Chairperson
Germany
Alliance for Empowering Rural Communities
Richard Matey
Ghana
Alyansa Tigil Mina
Jaybee Garganera
National Coordinator
Philippines
Amazon Watch
Paul Paz y Mino
Associate Director
United States
Amnesty International
Richard Kent
Researcher
United Kingdom
Ang Aroroy Ay Alagaan
Marilou Verano
Board of director
Philippines
Anthropocene Alliance
Harriet Festing
Executive Director
United States
Arctic Indigenous Wellness Foundation
Nicole Redvers
Board Chair
Canada
Arizona Mining Reform Coalition
Roger Featherstone
Director
United States
Asociación Interamericana para la Defensa del Ambiente (AIDA)
Liliana Avila
Senior attorney
Global
Association of Ethical Shareholders Germany
Markus Dufner
Director
Germany
Association pour la protection du Lac Taureau
Michael Picard
Professeur Honoraire
Canada
Bank Information Center
Ladd Connell
Environment Director
United States
Batani Foundation
Pavel Sulyandziga
President
United States/Russia
Bayay Sibuyanon INC.
Elizabeth Ibañez
DRR-CCA Officer
Philippines
Black Hills Clean Water Alliance
Lilias Jarding, PhD
President
United States
Bloomfield United Methodist Church
Judy McGoogan
Social Justice Chair
United States
Business & Human Rights Resource Centre
Jessie Cato
Natural Resources & Human Rights Programme Manager
Germany
CATAPA
Connor Cashell
Education & Movement
Belgium
Center for Biological Diversity
Sarah Uhlemann
International Program Director
United States
Centro Montalvo
Heriberta Fernández
Coordinadora Nacional de Desarrollo Local
República Dominicana
Chase Environmental Action Group
A. McLaren
Leader
Canada
Chirapaq/ECMIA
Tarcila Rivera-Zea
Presidenta
Perú
Christian Spiritual Youth Ministry HUDUMA
Axwessoo Siayi
CEID
Tanzania
Climate Hawks Vote
RL Miller
President
United States
Coalition Québec Meilleure Mine
Ugo Lapointe
Co-founder & co-spokesperson
Canada
Comité Citoyen de Protection de L’esker
Rodrigue Turgeon
Co-porte-parole
Canada
Comité para la defensa del agua y el páramo santurban
Daniel Martínez Gómez
Ingeniero mecánico
Colombia
Community Empowerment and Social Justice Network
Prabindra Shakya
Founder/Director
Nepal
Comunidad Maya Pixan Ixim
Carolina Martin Ramos
Co-Executive Director
United States & Maya Territories
Community Resource Centre Foundation
Sor.Rattanamanee Polkla
Executive Coordinator
Thailand
Confédération des Syndicats Nationaux
Yvan Duceppe
Trésorier de la CSN
Canada
Connecticut Citizens Action Group
Tom Swan
Executive Director
United States
CTConsulting Wales
Christopher Tanner
Senior Consultant
United Kingdom
Cully Air Action Team
Gregory Sotir
Coordinator
United States
Cultural Survival
Galina Angarova
Executive Director
Global
Deep Sea Conservation Coalition
Sian Owen
Director
Global
Denver Justice and Peace Committee
Rebeca Zuniga
Director
United StatesDeutsche Umwelthilfe e.V.Ludmila WalderdorffGermany
DIGNITY KwanzaJanemary RuhundwaExecutive DirectorTanzania
Drive Electric RVA
Charles Gerena
Lead Organizer
United States
E Tech International
Richard Kamp
Director
United States
Earth Action, Inc.
Mary Gutierrez
Director
United States
Earth Guardians
Kellie Berns
Program Director
United States
Earthjustice
Blaine Miller-McFeeley
Senior Legislative Representative
United States
Earthworks
Brytnee Laurette M.
Making Clean Energy Clean Coalition Coordinator
United States
East Yard Communities for Environmental Justice
Taylor Thomas
Co-Executive Director
United States
Eau Secours
Rébecca Pétrin
Directrice générale
Canada
Ecology Center
Charles Griffith
Climate and Energy Program Director
United StatesEcoteneo of the Ateneo de Davao UniversityCarmela SantosEcoteneo DirectorPhilippines
Environment Government Institute
Samuel Okulony
Chief Executive Officer
Uganda
Environmental Defence Canada
Julia Levin
Senior Climate and Energy Program Manager
Canada
Équiterre
Émile Boisseau-Bouvier
Analyste, politiques climatiques et transition écologique
Canada
Extinction Rebellion San Francisco Bay Area
Leah Redwood
Action Strategy and Planning Coordinator
United States
Fair Mining Collaborative
Glenn M Grande
Executive Director
Canada
Fiji Council of Social Services
Vani Catanasiga
Executive Director
Fiji
First Peoples Worldwide
Kate R. Finn
Executive Director
United States
Fondation Rivières
André Bélanger
Directeur Général
Canada
FracTracker Alliance
Brook Lenker
Executive Director
United States
FreshWater Accountability Project
Leatra J Harper
Managing Director
United States
Friends of the Earth US
Nicole Ghio
Senior Fossil Fuels Program Manager
United States
Front commun pour la transition énergétique
Elisabeth Gibeau
Coordonnatrice
Canada
Generation180
Stuart Gardner
Director
United States
Gesellschaft für bedrohte Völker / Society for Threatened Peoples
Yvonne Bangert
Consultan Indigenous Peoples
Germany
Geselschaft für bedrohte Völker Regionalgruppe München
Tijan Zaotschnaja
Contact for RG München
Germany
Gila Resources Information Project
Allyson E Siwik
Executive Director
United States
Global Witness
Paul Donowitz
Strategy Lead
United States
Goa Foundation
Rahul Basu
Research Director
India
GoodElectronics Network
Alejandro González
International Coordinator
Global
Great Basin Resource Watch
John Hadder
Executive Director
United States
Great Old Broads for Wilderness
Shelley Silbert
Executive Director
United StatesGreen Energy Consumers AllianceAnna VanderspekElectric Vehicle Program DirectorUnited States
GreenLatinos
Andrea Marpillero-Colomina
Clean Transportation & Energy Lead
United States
GreenLine Mumbai
Chris Valentino
Director
India
Hawai’i Institute for Human Rights
Joshua Cooper
Executive Director
United States
Human Rights Practice
William Paul Simmons
Director of the Human Rights Practice Program
United States
Human Rights Watch
Cara Schulte
Senior Associate
United States
Information Network for Responsible Mining
Jennifer Thurston
Executive Director
United States
Instituto de Estudios Políticos y Socioculturales
Antonio Arriaza
Director
Honduras
Inter Pares
Jean Symes
Policy Analyst
Canada
ILukim Sustainability Solomon Islands
Watson Puiahi
Director
Solomon Islands
Jamii Asilia Centre
Carson Kiburo
Executive Director
Kenya
Jubilee Australia Research Centre
Dina Hopstad Rui
Campaigns Director
Australia
Justice et Paix
Rix
Responsable plaidoyer & relation presse
Belgique
Kamloops Area Preservation Association
Paula Pick
Chair
Canada
Kamloops Moms for Clean Air
Gina Morris
Spokesperson
Canada
Kazdagi Association-Turkey
Suheyla Dogan
Chairwoman
Turkey
Land is Life
Katherine Freitag
Development & Operations Associate
United States
Local Environmental Action Demanded Agency Inc.
Rebecca Jim
Executive Director
United States
London Mining Network
Andy Whitmore
United Kingdom
Lynn Canal Conservation
Jessica Plachta
Executive Director
United States
Malach Consulting
Steve Emerman
Owner
United States
Mining and Just Energy Transition Network
Claire Burgess
Researcher
Australia
Mining Impact Coalition of Wisconsin
Dave Blouin
Coordinator
United States
MiningWatch Canada
Jamie Kneen
Co-manager
Canada
Moccasin Footprint Society
Nuskmata
(Jacinda Mack)
Executive Director
Canada
Movimento dos Atingidos por Barragens
Gessica Steffens
Brazil
Movimento pela Soberania Popular na Mineração
Luiz Paulo Siqueira
National Coordinator
Brazil
Namati
Erin Kitchell
Director of Global Programs
United States
Natur og Ungdom
(Young Friends of the Earth Norway)
Therese Hugstmyr Woie
Chairperson of the board
Norway
Natural Resources Defense Council
Joshua Axelrod
Senior Policy Advocate
United States
Nature Abounds
Melinda Hughes
President
United States
Naturvernforbundet (Friends of the Earth Norway)
Truls Gulowsen
Leader
Norway
No Coal San Juan Islands
Barbara A Keller
Board Member
United States
Norges Naturvernforbund (Norwegian society for Nature Conservation)
Truls Gulowsen
Board Chair
Norway
Northern Alaska Environmental Center
Solaris Gillispie
Clean Water and Mining Program Manager
United States
Northern Confluence Initiative
Nikki Skuce
Director
Canada
Observatoire d’etudes et d’appui a la responsabilité sociale et environnementale
Freddy Kasongo
Secrétaire Executif
Democratic Republic of the Congo
Oil and Gas Action Network
Matt Leonard
Director
United States
Oil Change International
David Tong
Global Industry Campaign Manager
New Zealand
Oxfam
Maria Lya Ramos
Associate Director, Extractive Industries
United States
Oyu Tolgoi Watch
Sukhgerel Dugersuren
Chair
Mongolia
PARTS, Inc.
Avelino Marata
Philippines
Patagonia Area Resource Alliance
Carolyn Shafer
Mission Coordinator
United States
Peace and Conflict Studies Institute Australia
Volker Boege
Director
Australia
People & Plant
J Clarke
Co-director: Climate Campaigns
United Kingdom
Perempuan Aman
Devi Anggraini
President
Indonesia
Project Green Home
Sven Thesen
Co-Founder
United States
Publish What You Pay
Maria Emilia Berazategui
Campaigns Coordinator
Global
Publish What You Pay Madagascar
Ketakandriana Rafitoson
National Coordinator
Madagascar
Rainforest Action Network
Ginger Cassady
Executive Director
United States
Respecting Aboriginal Values and Environmental Needs (RAVEN)
Susan Smitten
Executive Director
Canada
Regroupement Vigilance Mines de l’Abtibi et du Témiscamingue
Marc Nantel
Porte-parole
Canada
Rights & Accountability in Development (RAID)
Anneke Van Woudenberg
United Kingdom
Rivers Without Boundaries
Sukherel Dugersuren
Coordinator
Mongolia
Sacred Earth Solar
Melina Laboucan-Massimo
Founder
Canada
Salmon Beyond Borders
Jill Weitz
Director
United States
SalmonState
Tim Bristol
Executive Director
United States
Sibuyanon Against Mining
Elizabeth Ibañez
Philippines
Save the South Fork Salmon
Melissa Coriell
Board Member
United States
Seas At Risk
Monica Verbeek
Executive Director
Portugal/Belgium
Semilla Warunkwa
Claudia Velandia-Onofre
International Liasion
United States
Socio-Ecological Union
Svet Zabelin
Coordinator
Global
Sierra Club
John Dunmore
Federal Lands Protection Program
United States
Sierra Leone School Green Clubs
Alhassan Sesay
Founder
Sierra Leone
Sisters of Mercy of the Americas Justice Team
Marianne Comfort
Justice Coordinator
United States
SkeenaWild Conservation Trust
Adrienne Berchtold
Ecologist and Mining Impacts Researcher
Canada
Society for Threatened Peoples Switzerland
Tabea Willi
Campaigner
Switzerland
SOMO (Centre for Research on Multinational Corporations)
Alejandro González
Researcher
Netherlands
SOS Grenville Sur la Rouge
Candace Robinson
Canada
Spire
Julie Rødje
President
Norway
T.E.J.A.S.
Juan Parras
Director
United States
The Alliance for Appalachia
Chista Faulkner
Coordinator
United States
The Andrew Lees Trust
Yvonne Orengo
Director
United Kingdom
The Christensen Fund
Carla Fredericks
CEO
United States
The Deep Sea Mining Campaign
Dr. Helen Rosenbaum
Coordinator
Australia
The International Indigenous Women Forum
Aminatu Gambo
Program Officer of Political Participation and Advocacy
United States
TUDE & FUWA INTERNATIONAL VENTURES
John O. Oluwaleye
Representative
Nigeria
The Wilderness Society
Kim Stevens
Advocacy Director, Climate Solutions
United States
Union des peuples autochtones pour le réveil au développement
Yves Minani
Fondateur/Directeur exécutif
Burundi
Union of BC Indian Chiefs
Josh Kioke
Climate Policy Analyst
Canada
United Steelworkers – Canada
Doug Olthuis
Department Leader
Canada
Uplift
Tessa Khan
Director
United Kingdom
Valencia Renewables
Ann McCartney
Volunteer
United States
Wapichan Women’s Movement
Immaculata Casimero
Co-Founder
Guyana
Waterspirit
Blair Nelson
Executive Director
United States
Witness Radio
Jeff W. Ssebaggala
Team Leader
Uganda
World Economy, Ecology & Development (WEED)
Johannes Peter
Policy Officer Business & Human Rights
Germany
Western Watersheds Project
Kelly Fuller
Energy and Mining Campaign Director
United States
Wildsight
Wyatt Petryshen
Mining Coordinator
Canada
Xat’sull (Soda Creek) First Nation
Bev Sellars
Canada
Youth for Environment, Education and Development Foundation
Anish Shrestha
Nepal
Zaikomena
Ernest Kreutzer
Founder
Madagascar
Zimbabwe Environmental Law Association
Obert Bore
Chinese Investments Fellow
Zimbabwe