By the numbers
Responding to climate change with fast-paced deployment of renewable energy technologies has never been more urgent.
Wind turbines, solar panels, electric vehicles and battery storage require large quantities of minerals. Pressure to extract more bauxite, cobalt, copper, iron ore, lithium, manganese, nickel and zinc is intensifying.
Forecasts suggest that mineral demand could quadruple by 2040, with clean energy needs accounting for an increasingly dominant share - up to 92% for lithium and over 50% for copper and nickel. This pressure is pushing both producing and importing countries to prioritise access over safeguards, accelerating mining approvals and downplaying social, environmental and human rights concerns.
Human rights and environmental abuses associated with mining operations are rising. Local communities, Indigenous peoples and Human Rights Defenders bear the brunt of the abuses. Their right to live in a clean and healthy environment is jeopardised by the water intensity of mining.
Respect for human rights, recognition of hosting communities as equal partners entitled to sustainable benefit, unequivocal respect for the right of Indigenous Peoples to give or withhold their Free, Prior and Informed Consent, as well as commitment by the Global North to curb demand for transition minerals must be reflected in policymaking, investment decisions and operational approaches.
47%
of mines
% of mines (with at least one allegation) associated with a publicly available human rights policy
8
minerals
Bauxite, cobalt, copper, iron ore, lithium, manganese, nickel, and zinc covered in the tracker
1/5
attacks on HRDs
Portion of allegations in the tracker which included an attack on human rights defenders
835
allegations
Human rights allegations related to extraction of transition minerals (2010-2024)
Purpose
This tracker seeks to improve the human rights practices of >250 companies and their 245 mining operations producing the minerals vital to the renewable energy and electric vehicle sectors by shedding light on the key human rights risks in the geographies where they operate, and the human rights policies and practices of the most important companies in this sub-sector. To this end, users can:
- Understand who the biggest producers of eight key minerals needed for the low-carbon transition are, and where they operate;
- Explore the key human rights risks related to mining of these minerals, including key reports by partner organisations shedding light on egregious abuses;
- Identify whether these companies have human rights policies in place;
- Track hotspots where human rights allegations have been raised, find details and companies involved.
For more information on how the data was collected, please see our methodology.
Find a company
Find a company mining transition minerals to identify whether it has a human rights policy, and whether its activity has been linked to human rights allegations and attacks on human rights defenders. This tracker includes companies and allegations covered by our global and regional research. For further details on allegations, download the full data set below.
Latest analysis
We carry out regular deep-dive analysis of our global data, as well as key mining regions and the companies operating within them, shining a light on emerging issues and highest-risk countries and minerals.
Global Analysis 2025
Global Update analyses twelve years of allegations, from 2010 to 2024, and analyses 2024 trends
Análisis global 2025
La última actualización global ahora en español - latest Global Update now available in Spanish.
Stop and listen: Pathways to meaningful engagement with rightsholders in the global rush to mine for transition minerals (2024)
Explore case studies of failure to engage meaningfully with mining affected communities - and risks of social conflicts
"You can't eat lithium" (2022)
Briefing exploring community consent and access to information in transition mineral mining exploration in Europe and North America
Who should care about the human rights record of transition minerals mining companies?
Mining companies must first and foremost prevent abuse in their projects, and provide remedy when having caused or contributed to them.
Corporate responsibility extends through the whole renewable energy value chain. Renewable energy companies and their investors must make an urgent priority to ensure their mineral supply chains are not riddled with abuses. Governments must insist on corporate liability if companies persist with abuse in their operations or supply chains.
BHRRC Renewable Energy & Human Rights Benchmark Briefing
Renewable energy companies sourcing transition minerals (2023)
BHRRC