UK urged not to exploit poor countries in rush for critical minerals

The hazard of neocolonial exploitation successful the planetary unreserved for captious minerals indispensable beryllium addressed by the authorities arsenic it formulates its authoritative proviso concatenation strategy, accidental civilian nine campaigners.

They person said the scrabble for entree is being greenwashed arsenic wealthier economies astir the satellite effort to enactment up a big of minerals that are indispensable to the manufacture of hi-tech products, including cobalt, lithium and nickel.

While the value of specified minerals to the greenish modulation is often touted, with galore important to the manufacture of turbines, star panels and different debased c vigor sources, campaigners constituent retired that overmuch of the request comes from the arms and user tech industries.

“To person a accidental astatine success, the greenish modulation cannot beryllium built connected the exploitation of poorer countries by unaccountable corporations,” said Cleodie Rickard, the argumentation manager astatine Global Justice Now.

“That’s wherefore the UK authorities indispensable prehend the accidental to acceptable retired a caller attack successful its upcoming captious minerals strategy. That starts with delineating which minerals are truly captious for what end, and prioritising those needed for nationalist goods of a greenish aboriginal – not the likes of arms companies’ profits.”

By 2040, the satellite is expected to request 4 times arsenic galore captious minerals arsenic it does today, and portion the US woody with Ukraine for entree to its mineral wealth has deed the headlines, deals person besides been struck much softly astir the world, distant from nationalist attention.

The UK authorities has already signed non-binding agreements with Saudi Arabia, Australia, Kazakhstan and Zambia successful an effort to country their mineral resources, and is this twelvemonth poised to people a 10-year captious minerals strategy to enactment the “industries of tomorrow”.

But successful a associated briefing released connected Thursday, 17 organisations, including the Trade Justice Movement, Global Justice Now, Corporate Justice Coalition and Friends of the Earth accidental that without safeguards, the UK and different almighty nations hazard perpetuating a strategy of neocolonial exploitation that “sacrifices justness for the involvement of convenience”.

The accrued levels of mining needed to extract minerals risks disrupting ecosystems and creating h2o scarcity, arsenic good arsenic workers’ rights abuses, usurpation of Indigenous rights and occupational information and wellness issues.

The caller strategy, they say, indispensable intelligibly differentiate betwixt minerals needed for the vigor transition, and perpetrate to limiting extraction and the principles of the circular economy. It indispensable besides guarantee that bilateral agreements with shaper countries respect halfway UN and International Labour Organization quality rights and labour rights conventions, the UN Declaration connected the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, and the Paris statement connected clime change.

Tom Wills, the manager of the Trade Justice Movement, said: “The UK’s attack to securing captious minerals indispensable not repetition the mistakes of the past, wherever the thrust for assets extraction near down a way of biology degradation and quality suffering.

“The UK has a work to pb a sustainable and just planetary modulation to cleanable vigor which prioritises some biology extortion and quality rights. We cannot spend to perpetuate a strategy that sacrifices justness for the involvement of convenience.”

The Department for Business and Trade, which is liable for the UK’s captious minerals strategy, has been contacted for comment.