Ziggy Ojiegbe

The United Nations has called for fairness and sustainability in the global competition for critical minerals such as Lithium and Cobalt, which are essential for the transition to a low-carbon global economy.

The issue is expected to take center stage at a meeting of the United Nations Security Council on Thursday, where diplomats will discuss the links between energy, critical minerals, and global security.

Despite ongoing geopolitical tensions, the global shift from fossil fuels to clean electrification continues to accelerate.

According to the International Energy Agency, demand for lithium surged by nearly 30 percent in 2024, while demand for Nickel, cobalt, Graphite, and Rare Earth Elements rose by between six and eight percent.

The rapid growth of electric vehicles, battery technologies, and renewable energy systems is driving an unprecedented surge in demand for these resources.

Across the UN system, officials are increasingly focused on ensuring that the energy transition benefits all countries, particularly developing nations that host large mineral reserves.

In April 2024, UN Secretary-General António Guterres launched the Panel on Critical Energy Transition Minerals to promote a fair and sustainable approach to mining and resource management.

Later that year, the panel released its first report, which Guterres described as a practical guide to ensuring that the shift to renewable energy also promotes economic opportunity and equality.

The report outlines ways to ensure the clean-energy revolution supports sustainable development, respects communities, protects the environment, and generates prosperity in resource-rich developing countries.

In June 2025, the UN issued formal guidance aimed at ensuring that the extraction and use of critical minerals supports human rights, environmental protection, and equitable economic development.

The framework is built around three key principles.

First, human rights must remain central. This includes conducting human-rights impact assessments, ensuring free, prior and informed consent for affected communities, protecting civic space, and providing effective grievance mechanisms.

Second, environmental protection must be guaranteed. The guidance calls for strong environmental and social impact assessments, biodiversity protection, strict limits on mining in sensitive areas, decarbonisation of operations, and progressive rehabilitation of mine sites.

Third, the system must promote justice and equity. This includes meaningful community participation, gender equality, the inclusion of Indigenous peoples, and fair sharing of economic benefits.

The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development says booming demand for critical minerals is reshaping global economic and geopolitical dynamics.

According to the agency, the energy transition offers a “major development opportunity” for resource-rich developing countries if they move beyond exporting raw materials and instead invest in local processing and manufacturing.

For example, local cobalt processing in the Democratic Republic of the Congo significantly boosted export earnings, rising from about $167 million to $6 billion in 2022.

At the same time, the United Nations Environment Programme warns that the rapid expansion of mineral extraction carries serious environmental and social risks.

Mining and processing operations can generate significant greenhouse-gas emissions, cause biodiversity loss, and create pollution. In some regions, the industry has also been linked to human-rights abuses and impacts on Indigenous communities.

In addition, tight supplies and growing demand are increasing price volatility and geopolitical tensions, potentially driving new mining projects into environmentally sensitive areas.

UNEP is calling for stronger governance across the entire mineral supply chain, from extraction to processing and recycling, as well as greater cooperation between governments, industry and local communities.

Officials say such measures will be essential to ensure that the global transition to clean energy delivers both environmental protection and shared economic benefits.