Critical minerals: a real and just transition away from fossil fuels and over-production?

The field of critical minerals has emerged as a central focus in global discussions on the shift away from fossil fuels and the broader challenge of building sustainable, equitable energy systems. With mounting evidence highlighting the environmental degradation and human rights violations linked to the extraction and processing of these minerals, fundamental questions arise about the true sustainability and justice implications of the current “rush” to critical resources. Rapidly escalating demand forecasts drive not only policymaking but also international business and partnership strategies, often without adequate scrutiny regarding their evidence base or alignment with holistic, science-based approaches such as “the nexus approach” (climate/nature/food/water/health), transformative change, Indigenous science, and the lived experiences of those whose human rights are severely harmed by current critical mining activities. This Research Topic aims to integrate legal, natural, and social science perspectives to identify and analyze the underlying causes of the environmental and human rights challenges arising from energy transition minerals. This topic will investigate to what extent critical minerals are essential for a just energy transition, as opposed to responding to the needs of economic sectors that are responsible for the climate crisis and other planetary crisis, driving over-production and over-consumption (such as militarization or unchecked growth of data centres). The topic will also shed light on continued links between the full life-cycle of energy transition minerals and continued – or even deepening – fossil fuel dependency. Central questions include: to what extent do current critical mineral strategies align with the imperative for a just transition, and how can product and technology innovation minimize mineral reliance and environmental harm? By drawing on diverse forms of evidence – including legal obligations, as recently clarified by the International Court of Justice’s Advisory Opinion on Climate Change – this conversation will also explore alternative economic models that prioritize human rights and ecological integrity.The scope of this Research is to draw on diverse perspectives on what truly sustainable and human rights-based economic models could look like, and how they can be developed in inclusive ways so as to transform our energy and extractive systems. We invite contributions on, but not limited to, the following themes:• How can “responsible mining for energy transition minerals” be ensured to protect ecosystems and human rights in the context of concurrent planetary crises?• What are the assumptions that need to be reconsidered in the regulation and monitoring of the value chain of energy transition minerals and the development of renewables-based economies? • How should we assess and project present and future demands for energy transition minerals? To what extent are these minerals currently being sought after for economic sectors that are responsible for the climate crisis and other planetary crisis? • What can we learn from Indigenous science, and the lived experiences of those whose human rights are severely harmed by current energy transition mining activities?• To what extent is the full life-cycle of energy transition minerals reliant on fossil fuels? To what extent has there been progress in technology innovation to minimize reliance on fossil fuels, energy, materials and to minimize environmental harm in the full life-cycle of energy transition minerals?• What are (existing and speculative) alternative economic models that prioritize human rights and ecological integrity for a transformation of our energy and extractive systems?We welcome a variety of manuscripts, including theoretical analyses, empirical research, interdisciplinary case studies, and conceptual frameworks, that shed light on pathways for a just and sustainable transformation of our energy systems and economic models, including their reliance on minerals. Topic editors: Elisa Morgera, Petra Minnerop, Laura Marsiliani, Smith Azubuike, Olusola Oluwayemisi Ololade, Adebola Adeyemi, Lorenzo Cotula Source: https://www.frontiersin.org/research-topics/77173/critical-minerals-a-real-and-just-transition-away-from-fossil-fuels-and-over-production