OECD Conference - Unchecked Mining, Mineral Consumption For EVs, Weapons Threaten Forests And Indigenous Peoples’ Rights

30 April, 2025

• Indigenous Peoples’ leaders from Brazil and Sweden share powerful first-hand accounts of deforestation, land grabs and other rights abuses linked to mining on their territories.
• Experts highlight the rising threat to Indigenous Peoples from demand for minerals to serve weapons systems and the energy transition.
• Preview of findings to be presented at OECD forum to limit deforestation, investment risk in electric vehicle supply chains.*
• Strong calls for policies that reduce overall mineral demand and protect Indigenous Peoples’ rights globally.

A boom in mining for nickel, lithium, cobalt, copper and other so-called “critical minerals” is driving deforestation and threatening the rights of the world’s Indigenous Peoples, experts and Indigenous Peoples’ leaders said at an embargoed press briefing* on April 30, ahead of the OECD Forum on Responsible Mineral Supply Chains.

The rising demand for critical minerals — projected to be 3 billion tons by 2050 — is often attributed to the transition to a low-carbon economy, but weapons manufacturing is an increasingly important driver — with serious impacts for the world’s Indigenous Peoples.

Leaders and experts called for urgent, systemic changes: robust protections for Indigenous Peoples’ rights, smarter environmental regulations, and policy innovation to curb overall mineral consumption. They stressed Indigenous Peoples’ role as essential stewards of nature, and described why recognizing Indigenous Peoples’ land rights is a powerful, untapped solution for protecting forests and nature — for the benefit of all humanity.

“The global economy’s insatiable appetite for minerals is devastating Indigenous Peoples, destroying ecosystems, and perpetuating the injustices of extractive colonialism,” said Galina Angarova, Executive Director of the SIRGE, a coalition of Indigenous leaders, Indigenous-led and allied organizations. “Indigenous Peoples will never stop defending their territories. Companies that violate our rights can face millions in unexpected costs and months or years of delays in projects. Mining companies must respect the rights of Indigenous Peoples. They literally can’t afford to ignore us.”

The briefing – which was co-hosted by SIRGE and Fern, a European environmental nonprofit – featured testimony from Indigenous Peoples’ leaders from Brazil and Sweden, who offered first-hand perspectives of the devastating on-the-ground impacts of mining in Indigenous Peoples’ territories.

Experts on the briefing also previewed key findings under embargo from a groundbreaking new study — the first to model the link between deforestation and future European demand for electric vehicles. Commissioned by Fern, the study by French and Austrian researchers will be released on May 7, during the OECD Forum in Paris.*

Mining as witnessed by guardians of biodiverse ecosystems

Edson Krenak – an Indigenous activist from Brazil, a PhD student at Vienna University, and the Brazil lead at Cultural Survival – described the impacts of a lithium mine in his home community in the State of Minas Gerais, and how Indigenous Peoples are fighting back.

“There is a financial and economic risk for these companies for undermining Indigenous Peoples,” Krenak said. “Last month, the Brazilian justice department, finally, after months of insistence from Quilombola and Indigenous communities, accepted a complaint against the Canadian company IONIC, a lithium company. This is the fourth week that their operations have been stopped. They are losing five million dollars after four weeks.”

“Science has proven that Indigenous Peoples are essential stewards of our planet’s health,” Krenak added. “Our way of life protects ecosystems that represent at least 30 percent of the carbon capture needed to reach the Paris climate goals – humanity’s best hope for a livable future. When businesses fail Indigenous Peoples, they’re failing the entire human race. Without the leadership of Indigenous Peoples, the Paris climate goals and SDGs will fail.”

On May 5, Krenak will join Galina Angarova and other leaders of the SIRGE Coalition in speaking for the first time at a plenary during the OECD Forum in Paris, where they will directly address members of governments, investors and mining companies.

Mining is often presented as an opportunity to address the poverty of Indigenous Peoples and local communities in resource-rich regions, according to Djalma Ramalho Goncalves, a writer and member of the Arana Caboclo Indigenous community in the Jequitinhonha Valley in Minas Gerais, Brazil. But when miners invaded Brazil’s “lithium valley,” no one spoke of the riches that would be lost, he said.

“Brazil has a good legal framework for Indigenous lands, but that is not seen in practice. Our territory is invaded – and rights systematically violated – in the name of progress,” said Ramalho Goncalves, who traveled to Paris to speak at the OECD Forum. “We have environmental impacts that are catastrophic: destruction of springs, water, soil, subsoil, species extinction, degradation of rivers and lands. The situation undermines food security, physical, mental and spiritual health.

“Paris has the largest fleet of EVs in Europe,” Ramalho Goncalves added. “All of them rely on lithium batteries, and a large part of this lithium is extracted from Brazil, Chile, Bolivia, and more countries with violations of human rights and destruction of ecosystems. Lithium mining in my home region has been turned into a sacrifice zone for Europe’s EV transition. Every EV car is powered by Indigenous blood. We are not opposed to technology or development – we are opposed to a predatory model that violates rights and destroys the land.”

Jenny Wik Karlsson, Head of Operations and Senior Legal Advisor to the Swedish Sámi Reindeer Herders Association, detailed the impacts of mining on Indigenous Peoples’ lands in northern Europe, where major reserves of minerals have recently been discovered.

“Sami communities have cared for the forests, waters, and wildlife of our regions for generations,” said Wik Karlsson. “We understand the necessity of the green transition, but it cannot come at the expense of our rights and the ecosystems we protect. Indigenous Peoples’ rights are human rights —the right to exist and to choose how to live.

“For us, this means being included from the very beginning, not after decisions are made,” Wik Karlsson added. “Free, Prior and Informed Consent (FPIC) is not a box to tick; it’s the foundation for dialogue, for mutual respect, and for building any project that touches our lands and lives. We know our territories, our waters, and what is at stake. Without FPIC, there is no justice, no sustainability, and no future we have agreed to be part of."

Weaponization of minerals

Julie Klinger, Associate Professor of Geography and Spatial Sciences at the University of Delaware, described how the manufacture of weapons and other military activities are driving demand for minerals, with far-reaching consequences for people and the planet.

“The same minerals essential for wind turbines and electric vehicles are being pulled into weapons systems used in active conflict zones,” Dr. Klinger said. “This isn’t just a diversion of resources – it’s a distortion of priorities.

“By allowing defense contractors to absorb minerals under the pretext of national security, we are undermining climate goals, prolonging wars, and exposing entire populations, especially Indigenous Peoples, to intergenerational harm,” Klinger said. “We urgently need policies that stop treating weapons manufacturing as an unquestionable public good and start asking whether our mineral supply chains are fueling war or building a livable future.”

About the SIRGE Coalition

The Securing Indigenous Peoples’ Rights in the Green Economy (SIRGE) Coalition implements transformative solutions to secure the rights of Indigenous Peoples in the global transition to a green economy. With respect to the transition mineral supply chain, SIRGE Coalition focuses on the urgent need to operationalize Free, Prior and Informed Consent (FPIC) as enumerated in the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP). https://www.sirgecoalition.org/

About Fern

Fern is a non-governmental organization that works to achieve environmental and social justice with a focus on forests and the rights of the people who depend on them. Based in Europe, Fern monitors EU policies and advocates for just and sustainable solutions to global deforestation, biodiversity loss, and climate change. Through research, campaigns, and coalition-building, Fern aims to ensure that European policies support forests and the communities that rely on them around the world. https://www.fern.org/

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