The UN asks not to repeat the same mistakes with critical minerals as with oil

The lithium in our phones, the cobalt in our electric cars, and the nickel in our batteries are not only driving the global economy, but are redefining the geopolitical map and, in some cases, financing bloody conflicts. In view of this, the UN proposes a global pact for fair and beneficial mining for all.

Critical minerals already account for more than 10% of global trade, and their demand could quadruple by 2040. Its extraction can help an energy transition and the development of new technologies, but it can also cause wars and corruption. This was warned by Rosemary DiCarlo, UN Under-Secretary-General for Political Affairs, at an urgent session of the Security Council held this week and dedicated to an issue that, according to her, “will determine the future of hundreds of millions of people”: the race for critical minerals and its hidden risks. Trade in these minerals – which in 2023 moved 2.5 trillion dollars (10% of global trade) – could triple by 2030 and quadruple by 2040, driven by the demand for green technologies. But this bonanza hides a paradox: “While these resources can lift countries out of poverty, their irresponsible extraction is fueling wars, human rights abuses and environmental destruction,” DiCarlo warned. The crudest example is in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), where 70% of the world’s cobalt is extracted, key to batteries for electric phones and cars. There, armed groups such as the M23 earn more than a million dollars a month through illicit mining, according to UN reports.

“Control of mineral-rich areas not only finances violence, but weakens governance and perpetuates cycles of conflict,” DiCarlo explained, recalling that the Security Council has already imposed sanctions on actors who trade in these resources in the DRC, Libya and Somalia. But the problem is not unique to Africa. Myanmar, rich in rare earths (essential for high-tech magnets), is experiencing a conflict where illegal mining fuels armed groups. Ukraine, with key reserves of titanium and lithium, is seeing how the war has crippled its mining potential, crucial for reconstruction. Latin America, with its vast lithium deposits in the “lithium triangle” (Argentina, Bolivia, Chile), faces tensions over its exploitation, where indigenous communities denounce displacements and contamination of aquifers.

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