Addressing the climate crisis demands a significant increase in renewable energy power generation: by 2030, the installed capacity of renewables-based electricity generation must increase threefold, with solar and wind capacity accounting for 85% of this expansion if we are to avoid climate catastrophe. To underpin these mineral intensive energy technologies, extraction of transition minerals also continues to grow at pace. But across this renewable energy value chain – from mineral extraction to new power installations – human rights risks for business and investors remain ripe: environmental degradation, impacts on Indigenous Peoples and communities’ livelihoods, lands, right to consultation, attacks against human rights defenders (HRDs), as well as labour rights violations. Indigenous Peoples, other frontline communities and workers around the world are pushing back against this approach, and turning with increasing frequency to courts to demand an energy transition grounded not in abuse but in shared prosperity, fair negotiations, and a duty of care for the human and environmental rights of those directly impacted by global energy shift.

This year’s analysis of the Business and Human Rights Resource Centre’s Just Transition Litigation Tracking Tool (the Tracking Tool) brings into sharp relief the growing trend of just transition litigation. In 2025, the Tracking Tool includes a total of 95 lawsuits initiated around the world since 2009, brought by Indigenous Peoples, other frontline communities, HRDs and workers on the basis of protecting their human rights in the context of the energy transition, across the renewable energy value chain. Just transition litigation is also increasing: we identified 17 cases filed in 2024 - an increase in comparison to previous years (ten cases of our Tracking Tool were filed in 2023, and 13 in 2022).

Key findings based on the 95 lawsuits tracked include:

• While the Tracking Tool includes cases brought across the value chain, transition mineral mining remains the sector with the majority of lawsuits, representing over 70% (67 cases) of the global lawsuits featured in the Tracking Tool.
• Indigenous Peoples filed almost half of the cases (47% - 45 cases). And close to half of the cases tracked (49% - 47 cases) claim an alleged violation of Indigenous Peoples’ rights, including, in 33% (31) of cases, their right to free, prior and informed consent (FPIC).
• Environmental harm was the most frequent rights impact recorded, featuring in 70% (67) of cases tracked, followed by water-related impacts (56% – 53 cases). Almost half (46 cases – 48%) of cases related to projects’ impacts on communities’ livelihoods, and 40% (38) involved impacts on protected areas such as Indigenous Peoples’ sacred land, grazing lands, agricultural heritage sites or national parks.
• Latin America and the Caribbean remained the region with the highest number of cases of abuse (53% - 50 cases), followed followed by North America (16% - 15 cases), Africa (11% - ten cases), Europe (9% -nine cases), Asia (8% - eight cases), and Australia and Oceania (3% - three cases).
• In 65% (62 cases) of the cases included in the Tracking Tool, the plaintiffs asked for the project to be temporarily or permanently stopped. In 40% (25 cases) of these cases the court ruled in their favour, and 50% (13 cases) of these cases are now closed.

These findings demonstrate a rising risk of which companies and investors must take cognisance as they pursue profits in the course of the much-needed energy transition. Failure to adopt a human rights-centred approach throughout project lifecycles risks financial and reputational damage, project delays and disruption of essential resource supply chains, as rightsholders increasingly head to court. And judiciaries across the world are responding, including the recent precedent-setting decision in Brazil over Indigenous Peoples’ rights to direct financial benefits from hydropower projects, and in Finland, where courts ruled that EPV Tuulivoima Oy’s wind farm project failed to meet legal obligations on safeguarding traditional livelihoods. The crucial roles of human rights, public trust and legal accountability in achieving a transition that is not only fast but fundamentally fair have never been clearer.

Recommendations to companies and investors

Corporate duty of care for human rights

• Undertake robust human rights and environmental due diligence along the full value chain, paying particular attention to access to remedy by establishing effective operational-level grievance mechanisms for people directly impacted negatively by the project in the first place.
• Renewable energy companies should adopt policies on responsible mineral sourcing and actively engage with the upstream mining sector to ensure human rights-centred operations by transition mining companies.

Fair negotiations

• Respect and publicly report on good-faith consultation, engagement and negotiations with rightsholders, paying particular attention to those at heightened risk of vulnerability or marginalisation, prior to investment decisions and during operations, and commit to avoid considering public opposition as uninformed complaints; ensure this encompasses the role of business partners.
• Adopt and practically implement policies committing to respecting Indigenous Peoples’ rights, including their right to give or withhold their FPIC – regardless of whether national regulations are in place or not.
• Adopt and implement public policy commitments  which recognise the valuable role of HRDs, reference specific risks to HRDs, ensure effective engagement and consultation with HRDs at all stages of the due diligence process, and commit to zero tolerance for reprisals throughout the company’s operations, supply chains and business relationships.

Shared prosperity

• Rethink project design approaches to meaningfully include and empower Indigenous Peoples, frontline communities, workers and unions, and build project support. In particular, develop and implement fair and equitable business models with a benefit-sharing approach, including through co-management, ownership and cooperation, that are rights-based, address both procedural and substantive rights, and are adapted to local priorities and needs.

Investors

• Publicly support both existing and emerging human rights and environmental due diligence and corporate accountability legislation, as well as benefit-sharing frameworks.
• Commit to investment in renewable energy and transition minerals projects that respect human rights and the environment after undertaking a risk and impact assessment of investee companies on these issues.
• Develop policies regarding preferred ownership and investment models that favour shared benefit outcomes for communities and workers.

More recommendations for stronger corporate and investor human rights practice in the energy transition are also available at the end of this page.

“The world is still underestimating climate risks...It is absolutely essential to act now...[and] reduce emissions drastically now,” warned António Guterres, the UN Secretary-General, ahead of COP29 last year.

Human rights at risk

While the global benefits of the energy transition are undisputed – and essential to the survival of the planet – the impact of renewable energy projects and transition mineral mining on frontline communities and workers can be significant. Clear, global trends are identifiable, with human rights risks and impacts appearing consistent across the renewable energy value chain.

Transition mineral mining remains the sector with the majority of lawsuits

The 2025 Transition Minerals Tracker also highlights the disproportionate impact of transition minerals mining on Indigenous Peoples. This is reflected in the litigation landscape as well:

• Indigenous Peoples around the world initiated 46% (31) of the lawsuits related to transition mineral mining included in the Tracking Tool.
• Overall, close to half of the lawsuits (33) related to transition minerals involved allegations of Indigenous Peoples’ rights abuses: alleged failure to uphold their right to FPIC (58% - 19 cases) and impacts on notable or protected areas (48% - 16 cases).

Renewable energy

The wind sector accounts for 14% (13) of the cases in the Tracking Tool, the hydropower for 12% (11) and the solar sector for 4% (four).

Wind farms typically require extensive land, a factor frequently at the centre of lawsuits concerning renewable energy projects. Indeed, among the 13 cases related to wind farms we have tracked, alleged violations of land rights were cited in seven cases, while the impact of wind projects on the community livelihoods was referenced in eight cases. Indigenous Peoples, and the vast tracts of land they have lived and used for substantial periods face risk in the face of expanding wind farm developments. Notably, eight cases of wind farm-related lawsuits in our database were initiated by Indigenous Peoples, and six of these cases claimed a lack of FPIC. In 2018, the Unión Hidalgo Indigenous community sued Comisión Federal de Electricidad over inadequate consultation about the Gunaa Sicarú wind farm project in Mexico. This led to a 2021 court ruling banning wind farm construction on Indigenous lands.

Lawsuits against the hydropower sector are also numerous in the Tracking Tool: 11 cases. The main concern about rightsholders litigating this type of cases is around the impact of hydropower projects and dams on their right to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment (ten cases). Given the inherent nature of hydropower projects, the majority of claims related to concerns about access to water (nine cases) and the project impact on notable or protected areas (seven cases). The issue of alleged lack of consultation about the project is also high – reflected in nine cases ranging from Latin America to Europe. In five cases, the Court ordered the project to stop, as in Ecuador where a court suspended Genefran’s hydroelectric project in the Piatúa River and revoked its environmental licence.

Solar sector-related cases identified in our Tracking Tool (four cases) concerned mostly inadequate consultations (three cases) as in a recent case in Taiwan. Local villagers alleged that Ruizhi Photonics constructed a large-scale solar substation in their community without consultation. The government denied that the procedures were illegal. A court of appeals in Sweden overturned a lower court ruling and rejected the European Energy solar park project - the country’s largest solar facility project – highlighting the importance of protecting agricultural land and stating European Energy had not demonstrated that “the installation provides a sufficient social benefit.” The decision was seen as a reaffirmation of the priority given to agricultural land over renewable energy development when the social benefits are not adequately proven.

The outlook for wind and solar projects centred on respect for human rights and equitable partnerships is promising, with some encouraging examples of Indigenous Peoples' co-ownership and benefit-sharing in renewable energy projects – particularly where robust regulatory frameworks and commitment to implementation are in place. Some African countries (Kenya, Sierra Leone and South Africa) have innovative legislative provisions governing the renewable energy sector, including mandatory benefit sharing arrangements with communities, and FPIC to be obtained for industrial projects proposed on Indigenous Peoples' lands. These can serve as an inspiration for nascent legislative frameworks in other countries. These business models not only empower communities but also mitigate reputational and operational risks for companies, prevent conflicts and support the fight against the climate crisis.

As renewable energy projects expand, the sector has a crucial opportunity to drive a fair and just energy transition. By learning from past challenges in the mining industry, it can actively work to avoid repeating similar patterns, especially given the shared impacts on rightsholders.

Regional spotlight: Latin America leading litigation efforts for a just transition

Key actors in a just and fair transition

Almost half of the cases (45) tracked were filed by Indigenous Peoples – 69% (31) concerning the transition minerals mining sector and 31% (14) about renewable energy projects. This is not surprising as 50% of energy transition minerals are located on Indigenous Peoples’ or peasant lands and the global rush to mine for more transition minerals is increasingly threatening access to ancestral lands, culture and livelihoods. As they take legitimate action to defend their lands, resources and protect their fundamental rights from harms associated with business and state projects, including those with intended benefits for the climate, Indigenous Peoples face retaliation. Máxima Acuña Chaupe, a Peruvian Indigenous subsistence farmer, and her family allege that security forces of Minera Yanacocha (in which Newmont has a majority stake) have harassed, assaulted, and threatened to evict them over a land dispute linked to the Conga mine project expansion.

Other organisations, lawyers and communities litigating cases related to renewable energy and transition mineral projects also face risks. Recent research on attacks on HRDs by the Resource Centre identified that nearly three quarters of attacks on HRDs targeted climate, land and environmental defenders. Over the past decade, the sector with the highest number of attacks has been mining (nearly 1,700).