briefing

Transition Minerals: A just & Equitable Transition

This is a defining moment to do things differently: our renewable energy future must put people, rights, and environmental protection at the center of transition mineral supply chains.

BACKGROUND

Cobalt, copper, lithium, and nickel – collectively referred to as “transition” or “critical” minerals are some of the essential components in renewables. These minerals are used to create batteries for electric vehicles, solar and wind power, as well as energy grid and storage systems. 

However, the mining of these minerals too often causes serious harm to local communities, Indigenous peoples, and workers—through unsafe conditions, labor abuses, pollution, displacement, and corruption. Further, extraction of these minerals often fails to benefit the communities where the minerals are found: value is extracted for corporations and their shareholders, while the people who live and work in the regions where these minerals are sourced are left worse off. 

We are at an inflection point as this industry rapidly expands. Rather than replicating the exploitation and environmental harm that marked the fossil fuel era, there is an opportunity to do things differently.

We can center local communities in decision-making and safeguard human rights in pursuit of a more responsible sourcing of transition minerals and a more equitable distribution of costs and benefits. 

The transition minerals tour:

Detroit EV Roundtable & Washington, D.C. Briefing

The SAGE Fund supports groups working towards a better future for communities impacted by the mining of transition minerals.

In November 2025, SAGE collaborated with its grantees working in  the Democratic Republic of the Congo, which is experiencing  a surge in transition mineral mining, and other allies, to organize meetings with electric vehicle and battery manufacturers in Detroit and policy makers in Washington, DC. A dialogue at this level in Detroit, between the corporations that purchase the transition minerals and the people with first-hand knowledge of how those minerals are sourced, is a significant step forward and has the potential to make substantive and lasting change.

Decades of lessons from the extractive sector have taught us what not to do. Mining for transition minerals can and must deliver something better.

• Governments can set a higher standard for responsible sourcing of raw materials.

• Companies can institute policies and safeguards to ensure those standards are operationalized across their supply chains.

Working with communities, rather than extracting from them, will help to ensure their rights are protected and pathways are opened for greater resource and benefit sharing, from the ground up.

In their meeting with electric vehicle manufacturers, SAGE grantees will call on US companies to use their leverage with mining companies to set and enforce high standards of responsible sourcing, rather than participate in a race to the bottom in pursuit of minerals.

Measures that the automakers could adopt include:

• full supply chain transparency,

• effective due diligence practices,

• long-term local partnerships, and

• ensuring remedy when harms occur.  

Our Impact

The SAGE Fund supports grassroots and local strategies that shift power from corporations to frontline communities and workers, securing their rights and enabling systemic change through advocacy. This includes their efforts organizing communities to negotiate with mining companies for community benefit agreements, filing complaints to secure mine site safety, and working with scientific experts to monitor air and water pollution near the mines. The Detroit Roundtable is an example of this work in action.

Further, by connecting communities who face similar challenges to each other they have the opportunity to exchange ideas, tactics and solutions - and learn collectively how to best navigate this complex corporate landscape. Empowered with this knowledge, they can better protect their communities and environment from exploitation and harm and demand better from the companies who depend on their labor. 

By understanding the needs of mine workers and frontline communities, electric vehicle and battery manufacturers have the opportunity to demand better from their suppliers and incentivize them to improve their operations from the ground up.

Together, with ambition and accountability, the transition minerals sector can support—not undermine—a just and equitable energy transition. 

Get Involved

To learn more about how you can support these worthy organizations and the work of the SAGE Fund, email: info@safefundrights.org