A new analysis has found that lawsuits against transition mineral mining firms and renewable energy companies are increasing worldwide.
The NGO Business & Human Rights Resource Centre (BHRRC) in its new report published July 1 notes that since 2009, its transition litigation tracking tool has documented 95 legal cases filed against companies linked to the renewable energy value chain — from transition minerals extraction to wind, solar and hydro installations — for allegedly violating human rights. Nearly half the cases were filed by Indigenous peoples, while the rest were filed by local communities and human rights defenders.
Three-quarters of the lawsuits were filed starting 2018, indicating a recent rise in such complaints. Most of the cases seek to stop or suspend the project, alleging human rights violations, environmental abuses, and the failure to consult local communities, particularly their right to free, prior and informed consent (FPIC).
More than half (53%) of the 95 lawsuits were initiated in Latin America and the Caribbean, followed by North America (16%), Africa (11%), Europe (9%), Asia (8%), and Australia and Oceania (3%).
Elodie Aba, senior legal researcher at BHRRC, told Mongabay’s Aimee Gabay that people affected by transition mineral projects are increasingly turning to courts to uphold their rights. “Most of the time, litigation is going to be the last resort for them. But when there’s no other choice, we can see that people are more aware of their rights now and [are] actually using the tools at their disposal for that,” she said.
BHRRC’s just transition litigation tool shows that 70% of the 95 cases filed since 2009 involve companies mining for transition minerals such as bauxite, copper and lithium.
Most cases involving transition mineral mining focused on the environmental impacts, followed by issues of water pollution or access to water — mining for transition minerals requires large amounts of water.
Of the 29% of lawsuits related to wind, hydroelectric and solar energy projects, 80% alleged a lack of, or inadequate, consultation with the affected communities. A third of them also raised issues about water access.
“If you don’t engage them from the start, there’s a risk that these communities are going to resist your project and you can be faced with litigation, which doesn’t help your project in any way,” Aba told Gabay.
Reacting to the BHRRC report, Emily Iona Stewart, head of policy and EU relations for advocacy group Global Witness’s transition minerals campaign, told Gabay that such numbers “tell us a lot about the nature of our energy transition, and the ways in which it is systematically harming Indigenous Peoples and frontline communities.”
BHRRC has urged companies, governments and investors to conduct due diligence across their renewable energy value chain to ensure that human and environmental rights are being upheld.
Read the full story by Aimee Gabay here.
Banner image of a copper mine in Espinar, Peru. Image courtesy of Miguel Gutiérrez/Cooperacción.
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