Chloé Farand

Proposal for global minerals deal meets opposition as China looks away Saudi Arabia, Iran and Russia oppose a UN resolution for nations to start discussing options for a global minerals agreement

Minerals were discussed at COP30 but didn't make it into the final outcome. Now, calls for greater governance and higher standards ruling the supply chains of the resources we need for the clean energy transition are being discussed at the UN Environment Assembly in Nairobi.

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South Africa’s platinum mine dumps get a second look as clean energy lifts demand Companies say mining minerals from tailings is a sustainable way to boost supplies, but communities close to mines say they must benefit

Miners are increasingly looking at huge piles of what was once considered waste as a new mineral source.

In South Africa, communities that have borne the brunt of decades of mining want a stake in the new operations as compensation for past harms.

@climatechangenews.com

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Polluters on trial: How climate science is rocking the courtroom Attribution science is enabling climate victims to sue the world’s top polluters for damages and the first successful case may not be very far away, writes Chloé Farand.

💡Read Imperial’s deep dive into the implications of this pivotal case, and the cutting-edge of climate litigation and attribution science, featuring interviews with Professor @frediotto.bsky.social & Dr Noah-Walker Crawford @granthamlse.bsky.social by @chloefarand.bsky.social:

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I tracked references to minerals (that are needed for the energy transition) at #COP30.

As Melissa Marengo of @nrginstitute.bsky.social put it: "Minerals may not have made it into the text, but they are now firmly on the COP agenda – and the debate will only grow louder."

This is what happened 🧵

#COP30 ended without any mention of minerals in the text.

Yet the issue is now firmly on the COP agenda and it's hard to imagine future climate summits not discussing the risks and opportunities this new era of extraction bring.

Next stop for mineral governance, #UNEA7 next month. Stay tuned!

Minerals are out of the draft #COP30 text on just transition published on the last formal day of talks.

I cover the latest developments in @climatechangenews.com

Read it here👇

tinyurl.com/232w45e5

“Minerals are the backbone of the shift away from fossil fuels – leaving their governance out of just transition planning will undermine efforts to accelerate renewable energies by 2030 – a key target the COP has already set,” @antonio-hill.bsky.social advisor at @nrginstitute.bsky.social tells me.

On the last (formal) day of #COP30, references to energy-transition minerals have been removed from draft text proposed by the Brazilian presidency on just transition.

This comes after strong pushback from China, which dominates global mineral processing.

unfccc.int/sites/defaul...

COP30 Bulletin Day 9: China and Russia push back on critical minerals mention in draft text China - which produces the lion's share of the minerals needed for clean energy supply chains - doesn't want them mentioned in a text on just transition at COP30

Update: This is no done deal!

China and Russia are opposing current references to minerals in the just transition text at #COP30

Here's the latest tinyurl.com/2njev4xa

Full story

bsky.app/profile/chlo...

COP30 draft text includes energy transition minerals in UN climate first A draft negotiating text on defining principles for a just transition to clean energy systems recognises the social and environmental risks associated with mining critical minerals

“For the first time, minerals are on the main stage of COP negotiations – no longer a side show,” says Melissa Marengo, a senior policy officer at the @nrginstitute.bsky.social

Minerals making their first appearance in draft UN climate text at #COP30

www.climatechangenews.com/2025/11/14/c...

Language around transitioning away from fossil fuels is only included in some options of the text -- expect this to turn into a flashpoint.

COP30 Bulletin: "Constructive" consultations continue over COP30 thorny issues Brazil is trying to craft a compromise package on several contentious issues and has dismissed the idea of a roadmap away from fossil fuels

The draft text also includes an option for a just transition mechanism demanded by the G77 + China.

Alternatives includes "improving existing modalities", "developing a policy tool box" and "developing guidance" to deliver just energy transitions.

About the mechanism: tinyurl.com/272dasnx

The draft note also recalls "the principles and recommendations outlined in the report of the United Nations Secretary-General’s Panel on Critical Energy Transition Minerals" which called for putting human rights at the core of mineral supply chains:

www.climatechangenews.com/2024/09/12/h...

The draft (officially an informal note all in brackets so nothing agreed yet!) "recognises... the social and environmental risks associated with scaling up supply chains for clean energy technologies, including risks arising from the extraction and processing of critical minerals".

Breaking: #COP30 draft Just Transition Work Programme text has landed and minerals is in the document for the first time.

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A growing coalition of countries gathered at #COP30 in Belém, Brazil, agrees that minerals for clean energy systems can no longer be left out of negotiations concerned with making the transition just.

Watch out for the first mention of minerals in COP draft text expected to land over the next 36h.

"Water is worth more than lithium," Indigenous Argentine community tells COP30 Rich in lithium but poor in water, traditional Andean communities want the world to recognise the pitfalls of surging demand for minerals vital to the global energy transition

Mining is the most direct experience of the energy transition for many communities around the world.

In Argentina, the balance between people and nature is breaking under a development model that promises progress at the cost of survival, writes NGO FARN.

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COP30 TEXT: Belém has 1st negotiating text on "UAE dialogue" on "global stocktake" (that mentioned fossil-fuel transition)

Over 3pp, it has 14 "options" & 50 sq brackets, indicating disputed areas of text

In short, there is a lot of disagreement 🧵

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Row over definition of ‘gender’ hangs over Cop30 plans to support women Advocates say conservative states’ push to define gender as ‘biological sex’ would backslide on decade-old language within the UN

Row over definition of ‘gender’ hangs over #COP30 plans to support women

- Advocates say conservative states’ push to define gender as ‘biological sex’ would backslide on decade-old language within the UN

Story by @chloefarand.bsky.social
www.theguardian.com/environment/...

I'm tracking how minerals needed for the energy transition are finally making it into the UN climate talks at #COP30 in Belém.

This is mostly happening under negotiations to ensure that the shift from fossil fuels to clean energy is fair, sustainable and doesn't foster new social injustices.

🧵

A summary of a pre-COP dialogue on the Just Transition Work Programme show countries had broad discussions on the role of minerals. Countries called for greater governance & international cooperation to avoid exacerbating inequalities when mining for the energy transition.

tinyurl.com/4rpankkc

COP30 Bulletin: "Constructive" consultations continue over COP30 thorny issues Brazil is trying to craft a compromise package on several contentious issues and has dismissed the idea of a roadmap away from fossil fuels

Day3 #COP30: the UK, backed by Australia & the EU, proposed language on diversifying and ensuring traceable & sustainable mineral supply chains in talks on delivering a just energy transition - the first time that rich countries have formally supported text on minerals.

More 👉 tinyurl.com/272dasnx

🚨Colombia just supported in #COP30 plenary the fossil fuel roadmap idea.

That brings the number of countries supporting it out loud in negotiations to 8 (that I have heard)

On day 1 #COP30 Indigenous Peoples call for the Just Transition Work Programme to address the impacts of mining. Bryan Bixcul of #SIRGE says: "This is an important moment for us, for Brazil to take a stance and say energy security needs to respect the rights of Indigenous Peoples & key ecosystems".

A crucial dimension to address in efforts to secure a just transition away from fossil fuels.
#COP30

🇧🇷 has been supportive of discussing minerals in Belém. Pres Lula said Friday "it is impossible to discuss the energy transition without talking about critical minerals. To generate jobs, income and energy security, developing countries must participate in every stage of that global supply chain."

Developing countries want to discuss energy-transition minerals in negotiations on the implications of climate action (or "response measures" in UN jargon) and on ensuring a just energy transition (in the Just Transition Work Programme).

Catch up on who wants what here 👇

tinyurl.com/392badee

COP30 could confront "glaring gap" in clean energy agenda: mining Resource-rich developing countries want the impacts and benefits of mineral extraction to be part of climate talks

⛏️ COP30 could be the first to discuss the impacts and opportunities of mining the minerals needed for the energy transition.

tinyurl.com/392badee

The UN climate talks have never addressed the material dimension of the energy transition before.

I'm going to be tracking those discussions here👇

Self-taught mechanics give second life to Jordan’s glut of spent EV batteries As EV sales boom in Jordan, a lack of formal infrastructure for dealing with end-of-life batteries is leading to some innovative solutions

Jordan has seen the number of EVs on its roads boom in recent years. To deal with a growing wave of end-of-life EV batteries, mechanics in Amman are coming up with innovation solutions.

The latest for @climatechangenews.com's Clean Energy Frontier series.

www.climatechangenews.com/2025/11/03/s...