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On June 10th, members of the Global Council for Responsible Transition Minerals gathered for the first time on the sidelines of the Paris Peace Forum Spring Meeting in Ben Guerir, Morocco. The in-person reunion was chaired by Co-Chairs Bruno Oberle, former Director General of the IUCN, and Kandeh Yumkella, former Director General of UNIDO. Other notable members in person included Sheila Khama, former CEO of De Beers, Ma Jun, founder and Director General of the Institute of Environmental & Public Affairs in China, and Izabella Teixeira, Co-Chair of the International Resource Panel (IRP). Additional members participated online, such as Jason Bordoff, Founder and Director of the Center on Global Energy Policy at Columbia University, Connie Hedegaard, former EU Commissioner for Climate Action, Juan Carlos Jobet, former Minister of Mines in Chile, and Bogolo Kenewendo, former Minister of Industry and Trade in Botswana.
The Council members recognized the critical role of transition minerals in achieving global climate and renewable energy targets. The members agreed that global rivalry and fragmentation impede collective efforts towards the energy transition. Their aim is to leverage their experience and influence to advocate for a global collaborative approach to address the challenges related to transition minerals.
In this spirit, the Council invited Ditte Juul-Joergensen, Co-Chair of the UN Panel on Critical Energy Transition Minerals, to present the panel’s ongoing work. After a thorough discussion, the Council agreed to maintain regular communication with the UN Panel and to defer making formal recommendations until after the UN General Assembly in September, when the panel is expected to publish its recommendations, to avoid overlapping initiatives. During this interim period, members will focus on gathering knowledge and exploring the workstreams proposed by the Paris Peace Forum Secretariat.
As a first step, the Council discussed two key workstreams: “Addressing the fragmentation of multilateral approaches to transition minerals” and “Reshaping mineral markets for global trade.”. Their next meetings will be held virtually in mid-July and beginning of October.
