Mines on the EU’s periphery that could be critical to its energy transition have recorded a large rise in allegations of abuse ranging from workplace deaths to soil pollution, a report has found, with a threefold increase in 2024 from the average of the five previous years.
The nonprofit Business and Human Rights Resource Centre (BHRRC) found 270 allegations of environmental and human rights abuses in transition mineral projects across 13 countries in Europe and central Asia last year, up from 92 the year before.
Demand for the minerals, which include copper for cables and lithium for car batteries, is expected to surge as Europe tries to find alternatives to fossil fuels that heat the planet and make extreme weather worse.
“We must not choose between climate progress and protection of people and ecosystems,” said Ella Skybenko, a BHRRC researcher and co-author of the report. “We can do both if we do it wisely, ensuring that neither people nor the environment are paying the price for the energy transition in the region.”
The allegations, which are sourced from publicly reported incidents from media and NGOs and include those that have not been proven in court, cover abuses in the mining supply chain from extracting and processing minerals to smelting and refining them.
The researchers found allegations of abuse in 13 of the 23 eastern European and central Asian countries they studied. Russia accounted for 39% of allegations, followed by Ukraine and Kazakhstan. No abuse allegations were found for the four EU member states included in the analysis – Croatia, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania – or for Moldova and Turkmenistan.
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The report found health and safety violations were the most common form of alleged human rights violation, accounting for 85% of all impacts on workers, followed by workplace deaths and personal health issues.
Violations of environmental safety standards accounted for 38% of allegations affecting communities, the report found, followed by air pollution at 27%, and soil and water pollution at 20% each.
Diego Francesco Marin, a resource campaigner at the European Environmental Bureau, who was not involved in the report, said the repressive environment for journalists and NGOs in many of the countries meant the data probably represented significant under-reporting. He described the findings as “particularly alarming”.
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“The emerging patterns and increasing voices of victims should serve as a critical early warning system for banks, governments, and investors eyeing opportunities in this region,” said Marin. “The starting point is already deeply troubling – and without immediate intervention, the situation will only deteriorate as mining activities expand.”
EU efforts to mine for critical minerals at home – despite broad public support for climate action – have been met with fierce resistance, including from environmental groups. The tension has been heightened by concerns about energy security since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, which exposed Europe’s over-reliance on Russian gas, and China’s dominance of the critical mineral supply chain.
Skybenko said: “Workers, communities and human rights defenders are facing a concerning number of growing risks – seemingly being forgotten as the world races to secure the minerals necessary for the urgent transition to clean energy.”
