Submission to the UK Foreign Affairs Committee Inquiry on critical minerals

In February 2023, Forest Peoples Programme submitted a response to a parliamentary inquiry into critical minerals launched by the UK Foreign Affairs Committee.  

The submission focuses on how the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) should support the responsible sourcing of critical minerals, and how the UK can work with global partners to improve environmental, social and governance performance across the mining sector. It draws on the Democratic Republic of Congo as a case study.  

The UK Government must ensure that securing future supplies of critical minerals does not override the fundamental human rights and dignity of the people in whose lands those minerals are found.  

Our submission urges that the UK’s policy approaches and initiatives align with its international human rights law obligations, including the extraterritorial dimensions of these obligations. This includes through requiring the responsible sourcing of critical minerals by UK businesses, and using Overseas Development Assistance more effectively to tackle the root causes and underlying drivers of human rights violations and environmental destruction associated with mining for critical minerals. 

Other recommendations contained in the submission include the need for FCDO to: 

• Take a human rights-based approach in its engagement with governments of critical mineral-producing countries, and that this is mainstreamed across its foreign policy engagement. 
• Support new legislation in the UK to place mandatory requirements on businesses and financial institutions, in line with the recommendations made by the Joint Committee on Human Rights in 2017 as well as the UK’s commitments under the UNGPs, the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises (OECD Guidelines) and the UK’s wider international human rights law obligations and recommendations from treaty bodies. 
• Use the opportunity of Japan’s Presidency of the G7 in 2023 and its interest in critical minerals to discuss and commit, with other G7 governments, to a coherent regulatory framework for the mining sector in line with the international human rights standards.    

The full submission is available on the Foreign Affairs Committee’s website.