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Lead The Charge’s 2024 Leaderboard Report: The Race to Cleaner Automotive Supply Chains (February 2024)

This is the second annual Leaderboard on automotive supply chains, published by the Lead the Charge campaign. The Leaderboard evaluates 18 of the world's leading automakers on their efforts to eliminate emissions, environmental harms, and human rights violations from their supply chains. This report summarizes and analyzes the key findings from the Leaderboard, highlighting progress and gaps, calling out leaders and laggards, and identifying challenges and opportunities for the year ahead.

Limiting environmental damage, human rights abuses and Indigenous Peoples’ rights violations: Civil society guidelines for the implementation of the EU Critical Raw Materials Regulation (European Environmental Bureau - EEB, February 2024)

The following guidelines have been collaboratively crafted by multiple civil society organizations comprising the Raw Materials Coalition. These guidelines offer an insightful overview of four primary subjects addressed within the Critical Raw Materials Regulation (CRMR).

The Human and Climate Costs of Indonesia's Nickel Industry (Climate Rights International, January 2024)

Climate Rights International released a report on the harmful impacts of nickel mining in Indonesia, including violation of Indigenous and human rights of local communities, significant deforestation, air and water pollution, and greenhouse gas emissions that contribute to the climate crisis.

Remining for the Energy Transition (Earthworks, Transport and Environment, and Earthjustice, January 2024)

In this report, Earthworks, Transport and Environment, and Earthjustice highlight the potential of remining to help meet the increasing demand for transition minerals. However, further study and stronger regulations are necessary before this new innovation can support a safe, just, and sustainable clean energy transition.

Developed to assist policy makers and technical experts in initiating discussions with environmental and human rights leaders, as well as representatives of impacted communities, “Remining for the Energy Transition” dissects what is known and unknown about remining today: how renewable energy minerals can be recovered from mine waste deposits, its possible benefits and dangers, and practices that best reinforce gains and mitigate risks.

The Environmental and Social Impacts of Lithium Extraction in Imperial Valley (Earthworks, November 2023)

A comprehensive examination of the environmental justice challenges and potential hazards facing frontline communities amidst the booming demand for lithium.

Recharging Community Consent: Mining companies, battery minerals, and the battle to break from the past (Oxfam, September 2023)

This policy brief examines the publicly available policies of 43 companies engaged in the exploration and production of five minerals used in rechargeable lithium-ion batteries: cobalt, nickel, lithium, graphite, and copper. It is the first policy brief of its kind to focus on companies extracting these transition minerals.

Energy transition minerals and their intersection with land-connected peoples (Nature Sustainability, December 2022)

This paper characterizes the competing sustainability objectives found at the intersection between mining for the energy transition and territories less impacted by the historic forces of industrialization. The focus of the analysis is the lands of Indigenous peoples and peasants as reflected in the United Nations Declaration of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP)17 and the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Peasants and Other People Working in Rural Areas (UNDROP).

The (Un)just Use of Transition Minerals: How Efforts to Achieve a Low-Carbon Economy Continue to Violate Indigenous Rights (University of Colorado Law School, 2022)

This report provides a summary of the rights violations from mining and how mining uniquely impacts Indigenous Peoples, as well as new and developing domestic policies that incentivize the transition to a low-carbon economy, the need for these policies to consider the full impact on Indigenous Peoples. It also provides a framework of global standards and policies that shape corporate respect for Indigenous and human rights and discusses the ways that national governments, corporate leadership, and other stakeholders must meaningfully incorporate international frameworks for Indigenous Peoples’ rights into their laws and policies.

Safety First: Guidelines for Responsible Mine Tailings Management (Earthworks, May 2022)

The safest tailings facility is the one that is not built. To avoid the long-term liability of mine waste sites and their social and environmental impacts, we must reduce the volume of tailings produced, as well as the overall demand for primary raw minerals.

Just Minerals (Earthworks, June 2021)

Safeguarding protections for community rights, sacred places, and public lands from the unfounded push for mining expansion. Why a responsible renewable energy transition hinges on mining law reform.

The Role of Critical Minerals in Clean Energy Transition (The International Energy Agency, May 2021)

The IEA examines the full spectrum of energy issues including oil, gas, and coal supply and demand, renewable energy technologies, electricity markets, energy efficiency, access to energy, demand side management, and much more. Through its work, the IEA advocates policies that will enhance the reliability, affordability, and sustainability of energy in its 30 member countries, 8 association countries, and beyond.

Reducing New Mining for Electric Vehicle Battery Metals (Earthworks, April 2021)

This research investigates the current status and future potential of strategies to reduce demand for new mining, particularly for lithium-ion battery metals for electric vehicles.

Recharge Responsibly: The Environmental and Social Footprint of Mining Cobalt, Lithium, and Nickel for Electric Vehicle Batteries (Earthworks, March 2021)

This report is designed to inform downstream battery metal users of key environmental, social, and governance issues associated with the extraction and processing of the three battery metals of principal concern for the development of electric vehicles and low-carbon energy infrastructure—lithium, cobalt and nickel—and to offer guidance on responsible minerals sourcing practices. This report reflects and summarizes some of the key concerns of communities impacted by current and proposed mineral extraction in hotspots around the world: Argentina, Chile and the United States for lithium; Papua New Guinea, Indonesia and Russia for nickel; and the Democratic Republic of Congo for cobalt.