African leaders call for equity over minerals used for clean energy

A cobalt mine in Likasi, Democratic Republic of Congo. The country produces two-thirds of the world’s cobalt. Photograph: Schalk van Zuydam/AP

In an attempt to avoid the “injustices and extractivism” of fossil fuel operations, African leaders are calling for better controls on the dash for the minerals and metals needed for a clean energy transition.

A resolution for structural change that will promote equitable benefit-sharing from extraction, supported by a group of mainly African countries including Senegal, Burkina Faso, Cameroon and Chad, was presented at the UN environmental assembly in Nairobi on Wednesday and called for the sustainable use of transitional minerals.