UK critical minerals policies should align with devolved nations' priorities, says report
It says a Westminster-focused approach leads to 'inefficient and unfair policies around planning, energy and trade'.
The report was written jointly by Friends of the Earth Scotland, Friends of the Earth England, Northern Ireland and Wales, the Trade Justice Movement, the London Mining Network and Common Weal.
The UK’s Critical Mineral Strategy is assessed, along with policies around planning, energy, trade, the circular economy, corporate responsibility, industry and the military.
Recommendations are made for UK and devolved governments on how to take a more coordinated approach to minimise the impacts of critical minerals.
The recommendations are:
- Planning safeguards must be strengthened and clarified so that reserved and devolved responsibilities are sufficient to protect people and nature as critical mineral mining activities increase across the UK.
- There must be a shared process for approving publicly financed critical mineral projects located in devolved nations. This must take a just transition approach to protect workers and communities, reflecting the greater emphasis on just transition in devolved nation policy agendas.
- Create processes to ensure devolved priorities, especially around the energy transition, are included in the negotiation of critical minerals agreements with international partners.
- Quantify critical mineral demand in all national energy strategies. The lack of consideration of critical minerals in any of the UK or devolved energy plans is a serious and major risk to their success.
- Human rights and environmental due diligence must be prioritised to safeguard people and nature from harm.
- Work together to urgently minimise the non-essential use of critical minerals in consumer products across the UK.
- Working with devolved nations, the UK Government must legislate to pass a UK Business, Human Rights and Environment Act, creating a legal requirement for companies operating in the UK to prevent human rights abuses and environmental harm in their supply chains.
- Differentiate and prioritise the use of critical minerals for the energy transition over defence purposes.
The report on Aligning UK critical mineral policies with the human rights and environmental priorities of devolved nations says, 'Minimising the impact of critical minerals use is essential, urgent and the responsibility of all governments. This will require an approach which includes demand reduction, enforcing high social and environmental standards in all critical mineral supply chains. and circular economy measures. To achieve this, careful policy planning and co ordination across UK and devolved governments is required.'
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