Critical Minerals: The UN Wants to Prevent the Energy Transition from Fuelling Conflict
The Security Council has placed governance of lithium, cobalt and other strategic minerals at the centre of peace, human-rights and development concerns for producing countries.
On 22 July 2026 in New York, the United Nations Security Council held an open debate on natural-resource governance with a particular focus on critical minerals.
Lithium, cobalt, nickel, copper and rare earth elements have become essential for batteries, electricity grids, wind turbines and many digital devices. The UN estimates that demand could triple by 2030.
The meeting, chaired by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, began from a simple observation: natural resources can finance development, but can also prolong violence when they are illegally exploited or controlled by armed groups.
The same resource, two trajectories
- Development in producing countries
- Jobs and industrial skills
- Tax revenue for public services
- The global energy transition
- Armed groups through illegal exploitation
- Corruption and illicit revenue
- Deforestation and water pollution
- Population displacement and violations of workers' rights
DR Congo illustrates the tension. The country plays a major role in global cobalt and copper supply, while its eastern regions remain affected by conflicts involving numerous armed groups. Sudan was also cited because of gold's role in the war economy.
António Guterres called on countries to improve supply-chain traceability and ensure producing countries retain more value from their resources.
World Trade Organization Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala argued for more local processing and regional cooperation so that jobs, skills and tax revenue do not remain concentrated in the economies that refine minerals and manufacture finished products.
Measures that are difficult to implement
No binding international rule was adopted. This was a political debate intended to identify shared priorities. Proposals include mineral traceability, transparent contracts, human-rights protection, anti-corruption measures and stronger public institutions.
Implementation is complicated by long and fragmented supply chains, the possibility that legal and illegal minerals may be mixed, and limited enforcement capacity in conflict areas.
Millions of people depend on it directly or indirectly, often in insecure conditions. Overly abrupt regulation would push activity into clandestine networks rather than make it safer. The objective is formalisation, not prohibition.
- Demand for critical minerals could triple by 2030, according to the UN.
- The 22 July debate created no new obligations.
- The priorities identified are traceability, contract transparency and fairer distribution of value.
- The success of the energy transition also depends on the conditions under which raw materials are extracted.
Read the original article on Nations unies et Associated Press