Seven guiding principles and five recommendations, including traceability of critical minerals.
The United States Panel on Critical Energy Transition Minerals published a report on Wednesday, providing key principles and recommendations for the global energy transition to be pursued with “equity, justice, and sustainability.” The principles range from protecting human rights and conserving the environment to increased peace and security efforts. To complement these efforts, the panel’s recommendations include establishing an expert advisory group and a system to trace critical minerals along the entire value chain, from mining to recycling. In addition, the report also advises the launch of a global mining legacy fund to tackle challenges regarding abandoned mines and facilitate rehabilitation.
UN Secretary-General António Guterres appointed the panel in April as a response to a “normative gap” regarding critical minerals and calls from developing countries for guidance on the topic. (we reported). It comprises nearly 100 developed and developing Governments and includes most of the world’s biggest critical mineral producers, such as Australia, China, the Democratic Republic of Congo, and Indonesia. It also includes many of the world’s top consumers of critical minerals, such as the United States and the European Union. At its launch, Guterres stated that climate efforts “cannot trample over the poor.”
The full report, including the guiding principles and recommendations, can be found here.
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