A global fairtrade partnership needed to address injustices in the supply chains of clean energy technology materials

Abstract

Renewable sources produced close to one-third of the world’s electricity in 2023. However, a limited but growing body of research suggests rapid renewable energy development is leading to conflict and resource exploitation in energy-transitioning communities. Such injustices are attributable to the extractivist nature of renewable energy development, where raw materials, also known as Clean Energy Technology Materials (CETMs), are in limited quantities and often concentrated in resource-constrained zones in the Global South. In this perspective, we call for an urgent need for energy justice considerations in CETM’s supply chain. We used demand projection data from 2020 to 2040 to look into the effects of important CETMs like nickel, cobalt, and lithium on distributive justice. We also examined the potential of these effects to tackle systemic injustices such as conflict, labor exploitation, and transactional colonialism. Next, we analyzed global mining production data from the United States Geological Survey using a CETM life cycle lens and found that increasing demand for these materials is exacerbating restorative injustices, particularly in the Global South. Finally, building on the above evidence, we called for the creation of multi-stakeholder partnerships and the establishment of fair trade standards across the critical CETM supply chain. Graphical abstract Highlights Here, we analyzed the projected demand growth for selected clean energy technology materials by 2040 relative to 2020 levels using data from the International Energy Agency, visualized their global mining production using data from the United States Geological Survey, explained how the demand for these materials is exacerbating certain injustices, and recommended multi-stakeholder partnerships across the supply chain of these materials. Discussion The rapid growth of renewable energy technologies is creating injustices throughout the supply chain of clean energy technology materials (CETM). A lack of any energy justice framework across CETMs’ extraction, processing, decommissioning, and recycling is exacerbating restorative injustices, especially in the Global South. By examining the projected demands and geospatial patterns for the extraction of minerals, metals, and other materials essential for clean energy technology development, the inequities faced by impoverished, marginalized, and Indigenous communities become apparent. We argue that if coffee can have fair trade standards across its supply chain, why can’t we have similar considerations for the CETMs? There is a need to include transparency in the sustainability, ethics, and energy efficiency of CETM extraction and processing through global partnerships across its supply chain.