The Global Initiative for Economic, Social and Cultural Rights made a submission to answer to the call for inputs issued by the Working Group on Business and Human Rights to gather information for their report to the UN General Assembly’s 78^th Session in October 2023 on “Extractive Sector, Just Transition and Human Rights.”

The submission highlights the risks that the new boom of critical minerals necessary for the energy transition implies for the respect, protection and realization of women’s rights and highlights a set of key recommendations to address the potential human rights violations produced in this context. Considering the increasing demand that the energy transition will have on certain types of minerals (i.e. lithium, cobalt, copper, etc.), this written submission underscores the importance of adopting an intersectional and feminist approach to natural resource governance centred on the lived realities of women and frontline communities. To be just, the transition towards sustainability must tackle the gender power imbalances present in natural resource extraction and put measures in place to fairly distribute the costs and benefits of transforming our energy systems. Furthermore, it must ensure the meaningful and effective participation of groups historically marginalised in decision-making processes.

We encourage the Working Group on Business and Human Rights to consider and highlight the gender-differentiated impacts that the critical minerals sector produces, especially in Global South countries, and articulate recommendations to push for the rapid shift towards low-carbon technologies while realising human rights.

You may learn more about the call for inputs issues by the UN Working Group on Business and Human Rights and download GI-ESCR’s written contribution here