LCAW 2026
By RJN and RAID
The clean energy transition is necessary and overdue. But it will not be clean if the minerals that power it are extracted the old way: with pollution unchecked, companies unaccountable, and communities unheard.
The rapid expansion of mining for the materials in electric vehicles, wind turbines, and solar panels risks reproducing the very harms that have long accompanied extraction – and the pressure is intensifying as demand for the same minerals soars in the military and AI industries.
Against this backdrop, at the recent London Climate Action Week (LCAW), the Accountability Accelerator, RAID, Resource Justice Network and Leigh Day organised “From Science to Justice: Pollution and Accountability in Africa’s Critical Minerals Supply Chains”, an event examining how science and data can be leveraged in legal cases against pollution from extractives. Held on 23rd June, it brought together testimonies and case studies from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Madagascar, Zambia and Nigeria.
The escalating toll of pollution
Pollution from transition mineral extraction has severe and often irreversible impacts on frontline communities. From immediate health emergencies to long-term harms, and from the destruction of ecosystems to the impact on livelihoods, we have documented how mining pollution has detrimental effects on air, drinking water, river systems and agricultural land, with lasting damage to crop yields and fish stocks.
Edah Chimya from the Zambia Alliance of Women (ZAW), was working in a nearby community when multiple tailings dams operated by Sino-Metals Leach Zambia Ltd collapsed, releasing an estimated 900,000 million litres of toxic effluent into the Kafue River system. The river is a lifeline for some 15 million Zambians, providing both livelihoods and drinking water. “Everything changed”, said Edah, warning that the harms may be irreversible.
Flaviano Bianchini from Source International showed how toxic dust accumulates in the lungs of children living near the Kolwezi copper and cobalt mining area in the DRC. By the age of five, a child can suffer from an estimated 1.8 grams of toxic dust in their lungs, with the amount doubling every five years. At the Galaxy School, where 1,500 children and 68 staff study and work every day less than 500 metres from a mining waste stockpile, levels of Particulate Matter, PM2.5 and PM10, were close to four times the World Health Organization’s safety limits, and double those found on a busy traffic road in London.
The panel also offered room for hope.
Anneke Van Woudenberg of RAID reflected on the need to scale up citizen-led science and evidence-based community advocacy. She also stressed the importance of pushing corporations to disclose environmental and social data they already hold. Too often it is either withheld entirely or aggregated in inaccessible ways. While mining companies may remain reluctant to engage, downstream users such as electric vehicles and technology companies are more receptive and can exert meaningful pressure on suppliers.
Joëlle Ravelomanantsoa from RJN Madagascar, described how civil society campaigning around the QMM graphite mine helped push the government to undertake laboratory testing confirming contamination and high acidity levels in the lake adjacent to the mine. The campaign is now pursuing a broader set of demands, including boreholes to provide safe drinking water and an independent pollution monitoring system.
Photo Credits: RJN/RAID
Pathways for change
Several reflections and considerations emerged from the discussion, offering a pathway forward:
1. Root community grievances in scientific evidence
Community testimony is powerful, but legal strategies require rigorous evidence that can withstand scrutiny. Bring scientists into the process early. Build alliances between affected communities, local researchers and specialised organisations such as Source International.
2. Collect baseline data from the start
This is the most underused tool in the accountability toolkit. Source International noted that of around 50 cases the NGO had been involved in, only one had adequate baseline data. Establishing pollution baselines before or at the start of new mining projects creates a powerful basis for later accountability claims. Even without comprehensive lab testing, collecting geo-referenced samples of soil, sediment and water is valuable.
3. Use geospatial tools for independent monitoring
Satellite and drone imagery offer relatively low-cost routes to documenting environmental damage such as erosion, deforestation and spills, in ways that are difficult for companies or governments to dismiss. Leigh Day used satellite imagery to map 1,000 hectares of mangroves destroyed by Shell’s operations in Nigeria, showing that the company’s position about the size of the spill and extent of the damage was untenable. Combined with scientific testing and community testimony, geospatial evidence strengthens both advocacy and litigation.
4. Keep pushing for disclosure of environmental and social data
Pollution data is often recorded. Companies collect it for regulatory or internal purposes – including periodic Environmental Social Impact Assessments (ESIAs) – but it is rarely disclosed in a meaningful way. Downstream users of transition minerals, including electric vehicle and technology companies, can be important pressure points.
5. Investigate the root causes of non-compliance
Many producing countries have relatively strong legal frameworks on paper. The problem is implementation. Capacity gaps are part of the story, but so are political economy dynamics and possible collusion between officials and companies. These factors should be examined explicitly and corruption risks should be exposed globally, while reducing danger for frontline activists and communities.
6. Explore all available legal levers, including at national and regional level
Legal action in the Global North against multinationals remains important, but national and regional frameworks in producing countries can also provide entry points. In one Nigerian case, a judge found that a constitutional “right to life” could ground environmental claims. Emerging jurisprudence in African and Latin American regional courts offers further opportunities.
Moving away from piecemeal and fragmented projects is essential if promising approaches are to be replicated across the growing number of transition mineral projects. Donors and civil society organisations need to coordinate.
The energy transition cannot be anchored to justice without stronger collaboration between communities, scientists, lawyers, donors and civil society networks. The tools and strategies exist. What is needed now is the will, and the resources, to use them at scale.
A version of this was first published on the RJN website here. A recording will become available in the coming weeks. Join us for a webinar about the DRC scientific findings on 16th July 2026 at 3pm (UK). Register here.