COP30: the Fight for a Just Transition
In the midst of the climate crisis, we have a once-in-a-generation opportunity to transform the world’s energy system and move away from dirty, harmful extraction. We must accelerate the clean energy transition without repeating the injustices of the fossil fuel era. Without strong safeguards, we risk violating human rights and undermining the very renewable future we’re fighting for.
FOR A JUST AND CLEANER ENERGY
Voices from COP30
Building on Our Pillars
We can’t mine our way to a cleaner energy future. Minerals and metals mining and processing account for 17 percent of greenhouse gas emissions and almost a quarter (24 percent) of global pollution. (UN Environment Program)
We need to reduce our overall energy and mineral demand. Other solutions that can help include recycling, substitution, efficiency, and responsible sourcing. Recycling can and should significantly offset demand for newly mined minerals.
We can accelerate our renewable energy transition and push the mining industry to improve its human rights and environmental practices. Mine waste has destroyed communities and cost lives. Since 2012, more people have been killed opposing mining than any other industry. This has particularly impacted Indigenous leaders and communities in the Global South.
Indigenous communities must have a leadership role in the green economy. Governments and companies must respect the rights enshrined in the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, such as the right to Free, Prior and Informed Consent, including the right to say no to mining. Globally, 54% of 5,000 transition mineral projects analyzed worldwide are located on or near Indigenous lands (Nature).
The Path Forward
We can meet our climate goals and protect community health, water, human rights, and the environment from the harms of mining. The transition to renewable energy must be responsible, just, and equitable — and that means:
- Upholding Indigenous Peoples’ right to self-determination and Free, Prior and Informed Consent, per the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and ILO 169.
- Prioritizing and improving circular economy solutions that reduce the overall demand for primary metals, such as reuse, reduction, recycling, and design for disassembly.
- Ensuring that sourcing at existing mining operations adheres to legally binding regulations that protect communities and the environment, companies undertake mandatory human rights due diligence on their supply chains, and ensure that there is stringent, independent, third-party verification of compliance.
READ THE DECLARATION: Indigenous Peoples Principles and Protocols for Just Transition
Our Role
Earthworks holds the mining, oil, and gas industries to account for their safety, human rights, and environmental practices. We fight for communities’ right to make decisions about industrial projects that will affect their well-being, livelihoods, and territories. We work alongside communities and advocates in the U.S. and around the world to stop polluter harms and make clean energy clean, just, and equitable.
Activism and Future Outlook
Challenges and Perspectives
Desafíos y perspectivas
Analysis: Pulso Ambiental
