Manifesto: The urgency of a critical observatory on raw materials

In May 2024, the European Union’s Critical Raw Materials Act entered into force, with the objective of securing “access to secure and sustainable supply of critical raw materials”. This legislation is part of a larger political push by the block to secure access to the minerals in the face of increasing needs and competition with China, the United States and other geopolitical rivals.

There has been a seemingly wide consensus in Europe on the passing of this legislation, as it was mostly presented as necessary to achieve a quick rollout of renewable energy and other clean technologies to achieve the EU’s climate goals.

However, there are a number of risks and issues with Europe’s rush to secure critical minerals. There are very weak safeguards – if any – to ensure that it does not result in outcomes that are problematic in environmental, democratic or human rights terms, and that it delivers on a globally just socio-ecological transition.

• First and foremost, who will pay the price for this new mining push in Europe and – presumably mostly – in the rest of the world? What will be the impacts for local communities in terms of pollution, loss of rights and livelihoods, social and economic disruption? Will the CRMA be used to silence critics and repress opposition, undermining democracy in the countries where European companies and capital operate, and even in Europe itself, as the Rio Tinto lithium project in Serbia suggests?

• Who will actually benefit from this mineral push? What will be the actual uses of the critical minerals, and in what sense are they indeed “critical”, and for whom? European and non-European corporations have been pushing for new mining and for removing environmental safeguards for many years, and their embrace of the energy transition is at least partly opportunistic. There is ample evidence that other industries – including the defense industry and very polluting ones like the aerospace sector– have played a key role in shaping the CRMA and wider policies around minerals.

• Will Europe’s mineral push actually deliver on its alleged objectives, whether in terms of climate benefits or in terms of economic independence and resilience? Will not more mining result in more GHG emissions, cancelling the potential benefits of green technology? Will it actually benefit the European economy and its workers, or the shareholders of global companies that are in many cases not even EU-based? Will it not make the energy transition and the Green Deal even less popular among affected communities?

• Will the CRMA and other European policies such as the Global Gateway put the Union and its international policy ever more at the service of corporate interests, and in contradiction with its professed objectives and values of democracy, rights and climate action?

All these risks and dangers are interconnected.

The dominant narrative around critical minerals is full of flaws and omissions. We can’t afford to rely just on industry hype and narratives. We need critical scrutiny and accountability in order to prevent the very possible scenario of ever more corporate profits at the expense of ever more sacrifice zones, with not a single inch of evidence that there are less GHG emissions, that Europeans benefit and that Europe is becoming more economically resilient.

The EU has a particular role in the race for raw materials since it is completely dependent on external partners and therefore is pushing hard for policies that guarantee access to raw materials, for example new free trade agreements, and at the same time mobilizing public funding for private sector development, often benefitting multinational corporations.

The Critical Minerals Observatory will be a knowledge hub and an open critical space to exchange ideas and resources, help share this information more widely, develop shared learnings and new, collaborative research. The Observatory will look at the strategies of transnational corporations and governments (in the Global North) to secure supplies of critical minerals in the name of the energy transition.

Our goals

• Study the global supply chains of critical minerals (→ as in this research on niobium), identify the economic players beyond mining companies (including financial institutions, traders and industrial users) who stand to profit from the rush for critical minerals (→ as in this profile of Rio Tinto).

• Explore and document the local and global impacts of mining projects developed or expanded in the name of critical minerals, both in Europe itself and in the rest of the world.

• Investigate how industrial interests are shaping Europe’s policies in relation to mining and raw materials (→ as in the report Blood on the Green Deal?).

• Document and question the actual uses and benefits of so-called critical minerals for Europe’s climate objectives.

• Highlight the geopolitical dimensions of Europe’s rush for critical minerals, and examine its trade impacts, in particular the role of investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS).

In this first stage, as the founding group consists of Europe-based organisations, we will mostly focus on European policies, European-funded projects and supply chain involving European interests – but with the awareness that those dynamics and the minerals economy in general are global in nature and that it is often hard if not impossible to make a clear distinction between EU and non-EU interests.

What and for whom?

• Activists and civil society in decision-making centres and in affected communities. Offer materials and information for local struggle, campaigning and advocacy – as well as a space for discussion in order to build a different narrative around minerals.
• Policymakers. Understand the actual impacts of the CRMA and the associated policies.
• Media and journalists. Provide information and resources to go beyond corporate or government narratives, ask the right questions about the benefits and the impacts of mining projects and EU policies, and tell the real stories.
• Experts and researchers.

Who we are

The Critical Minerals Observatory is an initiative of a group of NGOs, research organisations and watchdogs from different European countries : Amigas de la Tierra España, Gresea, Observatori del Deute en la Globalització, Observatoire des multinationales, Transnational Institute, with the support of Corpwatch, Wav and the Mapping (De)Globalization research group.

The project was born within and has received support from the European Network of Corporate Observatories (ENCO) for its first stage.

How the Observatory will operate, and how you can contribute

The aim of the Critical Minerals Observatory is to pool research, publications, investigations, analysis, data and other resources developed by its founding members, individually or collectively, and also by others.

The purpose of the Critical Minerals Observatory is to focus on research, analysis and strategic discussions, not to engage in advocacy or campaigning. At the same time, we will encourage and facilitate the use of the work of the Observatory by Campaining and advocacy organisations, social movements, policy makers and journalists.

The group of founding members will be responsible for maintaining this common space of discussion and knowledge sharing, accepting contributions, proposing open activities and debates where everyone interested can participate and contribute.

We welcome any contribution, from individual researchers or journalists or from organisations, that fits within our scope and contributes to our goals. The Critical Minerals Observatory does not offer remuneration for contributions.

We also welcome expressions of interest from organisations wishing to join the core group.