The Business and Human Rights Resource Centre (BHRRC) published its 2025 Transition Minerals Tracker (May 2025) and Swedwatch published its report on Renewables and Reprisals: Defenders at risk in the green energy transition in Brazil, Honduras, Mozambique, and the Philippines (April 2025). These two reports outline key human rights risks linked to the renewable energy transition, which have the potential to undermine the much-needed transition away from fossil fuels.
Human Level’s Take:
- The energy transition is an imperative for human rights. Climate change is causing irremediable impacts to people, and there is more urgency than ever to move quickly in response. But this can’t happen without also ensuring the basic rights of people in renewable energy supply chains and operations. In short: a just transition means a fair, rights-respecting transition in and transition out.
- Two reports point out that human rights continue to be put at risk along renewable energy value chains, from extraction and production to deployment of large-scale energy projects.
- The Business & Human Rights Resource Centre’s Transition Minerals Tracker identified 156 allegations of human rights abuses in 2024, associated with the mining of eight key minerals for the energy transition: bauxite, cobalt, copper, lithium, manganese, nickel, zinc and iron. Between 2010-2024, there were 835 allegations recorded including violations of environmental, labour, land, and Indigenous Peoples’ rights, and attacks on human rights and environmental defenders.
- Swedwatch finds that the push for renewable energy is accelerating harms to human rights defenders in high-risk countries, where civic space is restricted and defenders face violence. Over half of future wind and two-thirds of solar projects are planned in such environments, including countries with high rates of killings of defenders.
- Both reports emphasise that strong human rights due diligence is table-stakes to advance a just transition. This applies to companies across the renewable energy supply chain — from critical minerals companies, to companies generating renewable energy, to companies purchasing renewable energy.
- What does this mean in practice? Adopting strong policies for responsible sourcing, decent work and protection of human rights defenders, and taking these from paper to practice by providing the needed financial and human resources to embed them throughout business decisions and supply chains. In parallel, building leverage and working with others along the value chain (whether suppliers, business partners or governments) can help tackle systemic challenges and create the enabling conditions for a rights-respecting transition, while advancing business models that create shared benefits for companies, workers and local communities.
Some key takeaways:
- Critical minerals demand is driving human rights impacts: The Business & Human Rights Resource Centre (BHRRC) released the 2025 version of its Transition Minerals Tracker. The report is drawn from the organisation’s tracking of publicly available information on human rights impacts associated with the mining of eight critical minerals for the energy transition: bauxite, cobalt, copper, lithium, manganese, nickel, zinc and iron. The BHRRC reports that, in 2024 alone, 156 allegations of abuse were recorded in the mining sector, highlighting widespread violations of environmental, land, Indigenous Peoples’ and labour rights. These cases can compound by creating interlinked harms to local communities, especially where workers come from families directly affected by negative impacts on health, the environment and beyond. The Transition Minerals Tracker also documented 157 attacks on human rights and environmental defenders — one in five of all abuse allegations — demonstrating a pattern of violence and repression against those speaking out against mining impacts. Less than half of the implicated mines are covered by a corporate human rights policy, and just under 30 mines account for half of all recorded allegations, with South America remaining the region with the highest number of cases. Indigenous Peoples continue to face disproportionate impacts, with 18 new cases in 2024 alone, alongside persistent risks to workers, including 225 allegations—65 involving deaths—often linked to severe health and safety failings. The Tracker also identified risks of entrenching existing gender inequalities, causing long-term ecosystem harm and perpetuating corruption and governance-related issues.
- Large-scale renewable energy projects are generating impacts to human rights defenders: Swedwatch conducted an analysis of the situation for human rights defenders in “hotspots” for large-scale renewable energy projects, with a focus on four countries: Mozambique, Honduras, Brazil and the Philippines. Swedwatch reports that the rapid expansion of renewable energy is set to occur largely in countries considered high-risk for human rights defenders. For example, over half of the world’s prospective wind farm capacity and more than two-thirds of solar capacity are projected to be developed in nations where civic space is obstructed, repressed or closed - posing risks to defenders. Among the top countries for future solar and wind development, many also have some of the highest rates of killings of defenders (for example, Brazil, the Philippines, Colombia, and Mexico). In other contexts like the Democratic Republic of the Congo, where minerals are contributing to conflict, human rights defenders face different risks and a conflict-sensitive approach is needed. Case studies from Mozambique, Honduras, Brazil, and the Philippines show consistent violations of civic freedoms and procedural rights, including lack of access to information, failure to obtain Free, Prior, and Informed Consent (FPIC), and inadequate stakeholder engagement.
- HRDD as the basis of good practice: Both reports underscore the critical importance for companies of conducting strong human rights due diligence (HRDD) in renewable energy value chains — regardless of where the company sits in the value chain, as either a producer of minerals or a consumer of renewable energy. The BHRRC recommends that all companies take action in three categories. In terms of corporate due diligence, this includes assigning clear board-level responsibility for overseeing human and environmental rights, integrating this across all departments and linking it to executive pay, as well as adopting strong policies that commit to going beyond national laws. End user companies can adopt responsible mineral sourcing policies and implement supply chain due diligence for all minerals, engaging with upstream suppliers. Mining companies can engage in fair negotiation practices with local communities, including ensuring FPIC for Indigenous Peoples, and adopt policies that prohibit attacks on HRDs while committing to create safe spaces for legitimate engagement. They can also design projects that promote shared prosperity for communities and workers, including through decent work, living wages, community benefit-sharing agreements, and new models of co-management, ownership and cooperating. Swedwatch recommends that companies sourcing renewable energy use their influence to support defenders and fundamental freedoms. Building leverage can help push both State actors and business partners to uphold their responsibilities in protecting defenders and ensuring a safe operating environment. Companies can also adopt a clear policy committing to zero tolerance for any involvement in attacks against defenders, including misuse of legal proceedings to silence opposition. Meaningful consultation with affected communities and defenders is essential, with full respect for FPIC where applicable. They can embed their policies by generating internal awareness of the vital role defenders play in protecting human rights and the environment and by upholding transparency, timely access to information and responsible engagement with security forces.
