Governments adopt UNEA-7 resolution on critical minerals and metals

After two weeks of intense negotiations, world leaders at a United Nations meeting on the environment adopted a decision on Friday on critical minerals and metals that could encourage better management as the transition to renewable energy powers rising demand. The seventh United Nations Environment Assembly, or UNEA-7, in Nairobi, Kenya, passed the resolution — which was introduced by Colombia — setting the stage for member states to adopt more environmentally sound means of managing minerals and metals such as lithium, cobalt, copper, and nickel. Also among the 11 resolutions and three decisions adopted at the gathering was the first-ever resolution to address the environmental impacts of artificial intelligence, such as energy, water usage, and land use pressures. The critical minerals resolution — which is nonbinding and was adopted by consensus — also calls for low- and middle-income countries’ equitable participation in international discussions around sustainable management of minerals and metals; resource recovery from mining waste and byproducts through regenerative approaches that reduce waste; and strengthening technological and financial capabilities in their management. Some 186 countries agreed to the text, though the United States did not vote on it. “It was one of the resolutions that faced the most difficulties in the beginning, and it was one of the first that managed to reach consensus,” outgoing UNEA President Abdullah Bin Ali Al-Amri said during a press conference. And it came after critical minerals were left out of the final text at the 30th U.N. Climate Conference in Belém, Brazil, last month — marking a win for multilateralism in a year when global cooperation has been under strain. These minerals are essential for renewable energy, battery storage technology, and electrification. However, they carry significant environmental risks at all stages — including their extraction, processing, transport, storage, use in technology, recycling, and eventual disposal. They are also increasingly being linked to industrial accidents. By advancing the resolution, member states from the global south are putting critical minerals on the table in international negotiations, said Erica Westenberg, the director of governance programs at the Natural Resources Governance Institute, a New York-based nonprofit. “At the minimum, it does show there is growing momentum on the importance of well-governed minerals sectors. That this resolution came from a producer country like Colombia shows leadership can come from the global south,” Westenberg told Devex. Among the issues raised throughout the negotiations was the need for U.N. member states to acknowledge critical minerals’ role in transitioning to clean energy sources, while also addressing how they fuel the triple planetary crisis of climate change, nature loss, and environmental pollution. With the resolution’s adoption, it is expected that countries will align mineral resource governance with environmental and human rights standards, and that it will strengthen cross-border and cross-sector cooperation, experts said. The European Environmental Bureau, a network of 180 organizations, criticized the final text for failing to incorporate earlier proposals for a binding agreement or any standards to uphold global environmental and human rights due diligence. It also lacks a negotiating track toward future binding rules on mineral governance, they argued. According to Westenberg, much more was expected from the negotiations since mining sector standards already in place are largely voluntary — and without binding instruments to compel action on breaches, there has been a lack of adherence to them. “There was a lot of hope among many accountability actors to see more emphasis on the potential for a binding mechanism,” she said. “I don’t expect this resolution alone would be able to signal the steep change we need to see in terms of balancing the way that mineral development is happening for developing producer countries. There is still a lot of work that needs to be done.” Demand for critical minerals globally is expected to double by 2040, triggering debates about their management. And as demand rises, so does environmental and labor exploitation. Resource-rich low- and middle-income countries are trapped at the bottom of the value chain, exporting raw materials while importing inequalities as communities grapple with the scars of pollution, unsafe labor practices, and environmental devastation. “This is one of the greatest injustices of the transition. Those that have contributed the least of the climate crisis are again at risk of gaining the least from the solutions,” said Selwin Hart, assistant secretary-general of the U.N.’s climate action team. “Together with governments, industry workers, communities, and the U.N. family, we can ensure the minerals powering the energy transition also power opportunity, dignity, and sustainable development.” Alongside the negotiations, a task force was launched to help the U.N. Secretary-General Panel on Critical Energy Transition Minerals push for fairness, transparency, sustainability, and the upholding of human rights in the entire minerals value chain. During the launch event, U.N. Environment Programme Executive Director Inger Andersen criticized the current system in the mineral and metals space, where resource-rich countries have been losing control of their natural resources due to unfair deals signed with rich countries. “In my very long career, I certainly have witnessed some very inappropriate deals being signed with prices not fixed in today’s markets but being fixed 40 years into the future, which is deeply unjust,” Andersen said. The system is locked in a colonial exploitative model where extracted minerals are shipped away from the source for processing in distant continents, creating gaps in resource benefits for local communities, Jiwoh Abdulai, Sierra Leone’s minister for environment and climate change, told Devex. Belgium announced a $60 million contribution to the UNEP’s Environmental Fund for 2025 to 2028 to support UNEP’s role in decisions made at UNEA-7 on protecting ecosystems and environmental security. Denmark committed $30 million to the fund. Update, Dec. 18, 2025: This story has been updated to better reflect the importance of the critical minerals resolution.