Many renewable energy technologies require minerals such as copper, cobalt, lithium, manganese, nickel, graphite, and zinc.

The most significant driver of new demand for these “transition” minerals comes from electric vehicles, according to the Institute for Sustainable Futures. Indigenous lands and territories are already imperiled by mining. These lands house significant concentrations of untapped transition mineral reserves globally, and increased mining exacerbates the impacts on Indigenous Peoples’ rights, territories, livelihoods, and health.

Of 5,097 mining projects globally that involve some 30 minerals used in renewable energy technologies, 54% are located on or near Indigenous Peoples' lands and territories. In the United States, 97% of nickel, 89% of copper, 79% of lithium and 68% of cobalt reserves–primary minerals needed for the energy transition–are located within 35 miles of Native American reservations.

If all existing vehicles were replaced by electric vehicles, mineral requirements for clean energy technologies would quadruple by 2040. Of 18 top global automakers that produce electric vehicles, ⅔ do not screen for impacts on Indigenous Peoples in any capacity; no automaker has implemented concrete processes and mechanisms to ensure that commitments to Indigenous Peoples’ rights are realized throughout their supply chains.

The rapid increase of mining increases the danger of further displacement and dispossession of Indigenous Peoples as well as human rights violations. The Business and Human Rights Resources Centre reported that, over a period of 10 years, there were 510 human rights allegations made against all 115 companies involved in transition mineral extraction. This figure represents only reported instances. In the pursuit of sustainable energy, companies are perpetuating the same unsustainable practices that have violated the rights of Indigenous Peoples for centuries. The mining methods used in the extraction of transition minerals, such as water-intensive extraction and open-pit mines, remain unchanged from traditional mining practices, and increased demand now threatens even more cultural and sacred sites, watersheds, and landscapes. During extraction, toxic materials such as arsenic, mercury, cadmium, chromium, and lead are released into the air and water, with devastating long-term effects on people and environments.

Expansion of transition mineral extraction poses a threat not only to Indigenous Peoples’ rights and territories, but also to lands that are crucial for biodiversity protection and carbon sequestration. For the clean energy transition to be a truly just transition, and for it to truly accomplish its climate change mitigation goals, Indigenous Peoples must be at the center of decision-making, leadership, and solutions, particularly when proposed policies and projects may affect their rights and livelihoods. 

Mining and resource development that occurs without full participation and the Free, Prior, Informed Consent from impacted Indigenous Peoples perpetuates harms and rights violations such as forced migration, coerced labor and exploitative labor practices, and the murder of human rights defenders protesting development. It desecrates sacred places, pollutes life-sustaining resources such as water and soil, and decimates animals and plant life integral to Indigenous Peoples’ subsistence and cultural practices. Mining brings an influx of temporary workers, which leads to human trafficking and violence against Indigenous women and children.

International human rights standards, such as the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP), enshrine Indigenous Peoples’ right to FPIC on projects affecting their lands, resources, cultural heritage, and more. Indigenous Peoples have the right to enter conversations and negotiations on development that affects them without coercion or manipulation (Free); well before any decision is made about lands, resources, or people (Prior); to have full, accessible, readily available information (Informed), and to give or withhold consent to projects collectively as an Indigenous People in accordance with customary decision-making processes (Consent). States have the obligation to ensure that entities seeking to carry out extractive projects respect this right.

Goal of the Summit:

To Affirm a rights-based approach, criteria and safeguards for projects and actions identified within the framework of the Just Transition, based on the inherent collective rights affirmed in the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (right to self-determination, Free, Prior and Informed Consent, rights to culture,  lands and territories, participation in decision making, etc.) as well as pp 11 of the Paris Agreement and challenge current interpretations and implementations of Just Transition and “Green Economy” that do not represent true transition or real justice for Indigenous Peoples.

Objectives for Summit:

1. To build solidarity among impacted Indigenous Peoples of the 7 regions; 

2. To increase awareness and share information among Indigenous Peoples as well as non-Indigenous allies from the grassroots to the international levels; 

3. To build capacity and opportunities for participation by impacted Indigenous Peoples in policy-debates; negotiations, and decision making on the local, national and international levels addressing relevant and related policies and practices; and 

4. To amplify the voices of impacted Indigenous Peoples in UNFCCC decision-making and other UN venues on this issue.