Critical minerals such as lithium, cobalt and rare earth elements are essential to the renewable energy technologies needed for the global transition to net zero, as well as being vital components in the technology we use in our everyday lives.  

Demand for critical minerals is increasing rapidly as countries look to decarbonise their economies and expand clean energy systems. Yet their extraction often creates significant social, environmental and political challenges. Mining activities can affect biodiversity, livelihoods, Indigenous peoples, local governance arrangements and community wellbeing. Tensions frequently emerge over who benefits from mining, who bears the impacts, and whose voices are included in decisions about development and energy transitions. 

While the concept of a "just transition" is increasingly used in policy and academic discussions, there remains little consensus on what justice means in practice. Competing interpretations of social, environmental, and distributional justice can contribute to conflict between governments, mining companies, investors, and communities. In some cases, these tensions have contributed to community protests and disruptions to critical minerals supply chains. 

The project responds to this critical gap in our knowledge of justice and critical minerals by working directly with communities and stakeholders to understand how justice is experienced, interpreted and communicated in places affected by critical minerals extraction. 

The project is funded by UK Research and Innovation (UKRI). 

Project Aims 

The Justice in Critical Minerals Governance and Energy Transitions project seeks to develop a deeper and more representative understanding of justice in the context of critical minerals mining and energy transitions. Rather than starting with predefined theories of justice, the project adopts a bottom-up approach that places community experiences and perspectives at the centre of the research. 

The project aims to: 

• understand how people impacted by critical minerals mining experience, interpret and communicate justice 

• capture both the "voices" and "silences" that shape understandings of justice in mining communities and across the critical minerals sector 

• examine the extent to which common understandings of environmental, social and governance (ESG) justice can be developed across communities, companies, governments and investors 

• reduce knowledge gaps that contribute to conflict, exclusion and disruption within critical minerals supply chains, and 

• co-create a multidisciplinary justice framework that can inform policy, governance and future energy transitions. 

  
  

Through this work, the project seeks to contribute to more equitable, inclusive and sustainable approaches to critical minerals governance while informing national and international discussions about the future of energy transitions and the post-2030 sustainable development agenda. 

Project Methods 

The project will undertake research across three country case studies: Australia, Chile and Ghana. These countries provide diverse social, political and mining contexts, while all playing important roles in current and emerging critical minerals supply chains. 

The research is organised around two interconnected workstreams. Workstream 1 applies hermeneutical ethnography to understand how people communicate ideas about justice through both verbal and non-verbal forms of expression. Workstream 2 collates the findings from Australia, Chile and Ghana to examine areas of convergence, divergence and ongoing tensions in understandings of justice, ultimately developing a multidisciplinary justice framework.  

Expected Outcomes 

The project is expected to generate the following outcomes: 

• new evidence on how justice is understood by communities affected by critical minerals mining 

• strengthened dialogue between communities, industry, governments and researchers, and 

• practical insights to support more just, inclusive and sustainable energy transitions. 

By placing community experiences and locally grounded understandings at the centre of critical minerals research, the project seeks to ensure that efforts to address climate change and expand clean energy systems are informed by the people and places most directly affected by the transition. 

For more information on the project, go to the King’s College London project page here.