United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Wednesday announced a new mechanism to help resource-rich developing countries build sustainable mineral value chains as demand for critical minerals rises with the global energy transition.
Guinea, Indonesia, Madagascar, Nigeria, Zambia and Zimbabwe will be the first countries to receive dedicated support under the Country Support Mechanism on Critical Energy Transition Minerals.
The mechanism will provide coordinated technical and capacity-building assistance aimed at strengthening governance, value addition, industrial development and environmental and human rights safeguards, the United Nations said.
“The countries that hold the critical minerals powering the energy transition must be the first to benefit from them,” Guterres said. “The Country Support Mechanism puts equity and justice into practice – to turn mineral wealth into jobs and prosperity at home.”
Critical minerals including copper, lithium, nickel, cobalt and rare earth elements are used in technologies such as wind turbines, solar panels, electric vehicles and battery storage.
Demand for critical minerals is expected to almost triple by 2030 as countries seek to reduce their reliance on fossil fuels and cut carbon emissions, the United Nations said.
For developing countries with significant mineral resources, rising demand could support economic diversification, value addition, industrial development and job creation. But weak governance and poor management of mineral resources can leave countries dependent on raw-material exports while exposing communities to environmental and social risks, the UN said.
The mechanism will be led by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the UN Development Coordination Office, working through UN Resident Offices in participating countries. It will coordinate expertise from across the UN system and tailor support to individual countries’ needs.
The initiative will be guided by recommendations from Guterres’ Panel on Critical Energy Transition Minerals, which has called for greater equity, sustainability and transparency in the development of mineral resources.
Zimbabwe’s Foreign Minister Amon Murwira welcomed the initiative, saying critical minerals should deliver greater value addition and participation in mineral supply chains for resource-rich developing countries.
Zambia’s Foreign Minister Mulambo Haimbe said his country wanted to increase domestic value addition, industrialisation and employment rather than simply expand mineral production.
“Critical minerals can help countries diversify and transform their economies,” UNDP Administrator Alexander de Croo said, adding that value creation, environmental protection and good governance needed to advance together.
UN Environment Programme Executive Director Inger Andersen said the agency would contribute expertise on environmental protection, circularity and resilient livelihoods.
UN Trade and Development Deputy Secretary-General Pedro Manuel Moreno said the mechanism would help resource-rich developing countries build value chains, governance systems and industrial capacity.
The Country Support Mechanism is part of the broader work of the UN Task Force on Critical Energy Transition Minerals, co-led by UNDP, the UN Conference on Trade and Development and the UN Environment Programme.
The task force is coordinating UN efforts to implement recommendations from Guterres’ panel and help countries use their mineral resources to support sustainable development, economic diversification and the clean-energy transition.
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