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COP30, this year’s UN climate conference in Belém, Brazil, concluded with some progress on climate justice. It also exposed serious gaps that undercut the credibility of global climate action.
Steps forward on Indigenous Peoples’ rights
The Just Transition Work Program (JTWP), a conversation that began at COP28 in Dubai, aims to guide countries in ensuring that the shift to a low-carbon economy is fair, inclusive, and rights-based, supporting workers, communities, and Indigenous Peoples affected by the transition. The final JTWP language from COP30 includes recognition of Indigenous Peoples’ rights, including Free, Prior, and Informed Consent (FPIC), and establishes a Just Transition Mechanism.
Falling short of a just transition
These are significant advances, but the broader promise of climate justice falls short. The near-total absence of any reference to the needed shift away from fossil fuels is deeply disappointing, and the omission of critical minerals language in the JTWP is similarly troubling.
While Earthworks was on the ground at COP30 this year, we worked closely with our Indigenous partners to push for the inclusion of critical minerals language in the JTWP, as well as language recognizing the fundamental rights of Indigenous Peoples as we transition the global economy away from fossil fuels. We highlighted the risks and harms associated with mining and processing transition minerals, and the need for equitable, transparent, and accountable clean energy supply chains so that we do not repeat the mistakes of the fossil fuel era as we move towards clean energy. Our advocacy aimed to ensure that the voices of communities directly affected by extractive industries were centered in the conversation.
Missing an opportunity on minerals
Draft negotiating texts at COP30 initially recognized the social and environmental risks associated with scaling up transition minerals for clean energy technologies, including risks arising from the extraction and processing. This reflects growing international attention to the impact transition minerals have on communities, Indigenous Peoples, water, and land. Despite this promising start, the momentum ultimately fell apart and the minerals language was excluded. There are still multiple opportunities to push for critical minerals in multilateral agreements and future UNFCCC negotiations. Earthworks will continue to advocate for the full integration of so-called critical minerals into climate and just transition frameworks — because a just transition cannot happen without them.
An opportunity at the UN Environment Assembly
As government negotiators leave Belem, many governments and stakeholders will shift their focus to the upcoming United Nations Environment Assembly (UNEA) in Nairobi, Kenya. During the first two weeks of December, the UNEA will consider a resolution introduced by the governments of Colombia and Oman that could establish a process for coordinated global action on the environmentally and sound management of minerals and metals with a view to reducing environmental and social impacts. The UNEA is another space and opportunity for multilateral negotiations that protect communities and the environment and respect Indigenous Peoples’ rights.
Stay up to date with the latest news on mining and minerals policy from UNEA by following Earthworks and our partners, including the Securing Indigenous Peoples’ Rights in the Green Economy (SIRGE) Coalition, the European Environmental Bureau, the Heinrich Böll Foundation, Journalists for Human Rights, and the Natural Resource Governance Institute.
