Countries in Africa, South America, and Southeast Asia are actively reshaping mineral dynamics to ensure that the associated mining benefits local economies and communities.
Transitioning from fossil fuels to a clean energy future will significantly reduce the strain on ecological resources. However, this systemic transformation requires an overall increase in key minerals. As governments, consumers, civil society, and investors amplify their calls for transparency about the environmental and social impacts of mineral extraction, this much-needed scrutiny is propelling the shift toward more sustainable and responsible practices.
The energy transition presents an urgent opportunity to build a responsible mineral supply that learns from past injustices and breaks free from the legacy of exploitative mining. For too long, foreign corporations and wealthy nations have extracted resources from low- to middle-income countries, leaving communities impoverished, the environment devastated, and human rights trampled.
Today, the wealthiest countries dominate discussions about sourcing the essential minerals for clean energy, while the countries supplying them continue to grapple with unethical mining practices and limited influence in global decision-making. This imbalance threatens to further entrench global inequalities and overlook the needs of many countries and communities.
Supporting a responsible mineral supply chain requires understanding local and geographic contexts — including the needs, hopes, and priorities of communities impacted by mining. This will require fostering true collaboration instead of imposing development projects driven by wealthy nations.
The following snapshots describe mineral extraction dynamics in countries in Africa, South America, and Southeast Asia. These countries play a critical role in the global supply chain and are actively reshaping mineral dynamics to ensure that the associated mining benefits local economies and communities.
Africa
In many African countries, centuries of colonial interference have opened the door for corporate exploitation that continues to deepen human rights violations, economic inequality, corruption, debt, and environmental degradation. African countries hold a significant share of essential mineral reserves for clean energy, raising expectations for a more prosperous future. However, past experiences have left many communities wary and even mistrustful that their interests will receive the attention they deserve.
The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) contains enormous mineral wealth and is the world’s largest supplier of cobalt, which is essential for lithium-ion batteries. In 2022, the DRC produced nearly three-quarters of all cobalt worldwide. Meanwhile, Guinea, Mozambique, Tanzania, Namibia, Zimbabwe, Zambia, and Kenya possess rich reserves of bauxite, cobalt, lithium, graphite, and copper, among other important minerals. Despite its coal mining legacy, South Africa is looking to shift its focus to manganese and platinum.
Countries across Africa are strategizing about how best to harness their mineral wealth, aiming to move up in the clean energy supply chain — and to ensure that the rewards of extraction bring maximum benefits to local economies. As a result, many African governments are crafting policies to ensure that raw minerals are not just extracted but also refined locally to boost domestic manufacturing. For example, Namibia and Zimbabwe have officially banned the export of unprocessed lithium to attract financing for mineral refining. Meanwhile, the DRC and Zambia signed an agreement in 2022 to develop domestic electric vehicle and battery production zones.
The rush for minerals has induced rapid mining expansion — often outpacing the enforcement of existing regulations — making it challenging to hold the mining industry accountable. This mismatch between industrial extraction and adequate regulations occurs around the world, including in the United States. In Zambia, nickel and manganese mining surged in 2022 under outdated regulations that failed to address contemporary human rights and environmental issues. These enforcement gaps leave communities vulnerable to abuses while legal protections for human rights and environmental defenders remain weak and inconsistently applied.
Despite their mineral wealth, many African countries face significant challenges in achieving sustainable economic and infrastructure development. Nonetheless, our partners like the African Climate Foundation are steering advocacy, engagement, and dialogue to drive efforts toward rewriting historical narratives of exploitation and extraction.
South America
Countries in South America are rich in mineral resources, with a centuries-old mining sector that dates to Spain and Portugal’s ruthless gold extraction. This colonial legacy has had devastating consequences on Indigenous communities, instilling deep mistrust and a fraught relationship with the mining industry. Today, modern mining projects continue to jeopardize these communities, bringing severe environmental disasters and violent conflicts in their wake.
South American countries are now widely recognized for vast lithium reserves — vital for electric vehicle batteries and clean energy storage — and contribute 35% of global lithium production. Currently, Chile is the world leader in lithium production. Together with Bolivia and Argentina, these three countries comprise the “lithium triangle” — a geographic area that holds over half of the world’s lithium reserves. Meanwhile, Brazil has one-fifth of the global reserves of graphite, nickel, and manganese.
Only a fraction of minerals in South American countries are currently accessible due to several complex and overlapping factors, such as a lack of investment, poor infrastructure, outdated geographical surveys, and location near fragile ecosystems or culturally significant Indigenous lands. Moreover, conflicts over mining are prevalent, with 45% occurring near biodiverse areas and Indigenous and local communities. In Chile, which hosts over 2.2 million Indigenous Peoples, many mining projects infringe on Indigenous lands. Additionally, the most resource-rich areas are often water-scarce and ecologically fragile, leading to conflicts over water shortage, pollution, and the disruption of Indigenous livelihoods.
As South American countries tap into the economic opportunities of the clean energy supply chain, they are beginning to implement new policies to protect their populations with the goal of rectifying the legacy of mining exploitation. Bolivia’s 2009 constitution declared that natural resources belong exclusively to its people. In 2023, Bolivian President Luis Arce Catacora proposed a collaborative lithium policy with Argentina and Brazil to innovate energy storage solutions that “will make it possible to overcome the use of fossil fuels.” Chile enacted mining tax reforms to increase contributions from copper and lithium producers. Chile’s Finance Minister Mario Marcel underscored that these reforms would help stop a long history of past abuses from the mining industry.
Ultimately, countries in South America seek pathways to economic prosperity that will uplift communities. Our partners at Iniciativa Climática de México and Instituto Clima e Sociedad are committed to realizing that vision.
Southeast Asia
Southeast Asian countries are significant players in the global energy transition and mineral supply chain. Indonesia and the Philippines account for 45% of global nickel extraction, with Southeast Asia’s production of nickel, rare earth elements, and manganese doubling in recent years. Indonesia saw a staggering 2,500% increase in nickel production between 2015 and 2020. Myanmar, Laos, Cambodia, and Vietnam also strive to develop their mineral resources, positioning themselves as emerging players in the sector.
Amid rising economic competition between the United States and China, Indonesia strategically implemented an export ban on raw minerals, mandating domestic refinement before export. This move aims to enhance the value of these minerals, boost domestic manufacturing, and position Indonesia as a global leader in clean energy technology production. Despite facing legal challenges from international mining firms, Indonesia has succeeded in growing its domestic refining processes.
For a country like Indonesia, growth in the minerals supply chain means a delicate balance between advancing energy transition goals, driving economic development, and protecting its rich biodiversity alongside the rights of local and Indigenous communities. Across the region, however, rapid development is outpacing regulatory progress, underscoring an urgent need for stronger platforms and capacity for civil society to engage with government and industry on critical issues like human rights, environmental integrity, and the welfare of communities affected by mining.
Amid Southeast Asia’s unique journey on minerals, developing a responsible supply chain in sync with economic development remains a critical priority for achieving success. In Indonesia, our partners at Viriya ENB are working to identify a multi-faceted strategy with an eye toward climate and sustainable development.
If we act now, we can build a responsible mineral supply
The clean energy transition offers an unprecedented opportunity for global collaboration and cooperation on a scale the world has never seen. However, to truly succeed, countries and communities in Africa, South America, and Southeast Asia — especially those historically exploited by mining and sidelined in policymaking — must be at the forefront of shaping the global energy transition. Climate solutions must advance their interests, uplift their aspirations, and reflect their realities — without overlooking their unique history, perspectives, and needs.
The future of mineral supply must be built with a deep commitment to responsible mining practices that safeguard human rights, protect ecosystems and biodiversity, and ensure economic benefits flow directly to the communities where these resources are found — ultimately to help secure a just, inclusive, and sustainable future for all.
