Value Beyond the Mine: Enabling Equitable Opportunities in Mexico
Image: Mexican Female Miner by Solidarity Center under Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) 2.0 Generic licence.
As the world accelerates the shift to clean energy, the demand for transition minerals is reshaping how resource-rich countries like Mexico approach mining. The UN Secretary-General’s Panel on Transition Minerals (UN Panel) has identified value addition as its first actionable recommendation and has called for gender equity to be embedded across the entire mineral value chain.
This isn’t just about maximizing economic returns—it’s about ensuring fair and inclusive opportunities and benefit-sharing. Principles 3 and 4 of the UN Panel’s report stress the importance of tackling socio-economic barriers by involving women’s groups in decision-making before, during and after mining operations. Yet, despite their proximity to mining activities, women are often excluded from formal mining benefits and are typically confined to lower-paid, informal or peripheral roles.
In countries with both strong mining activities and industrial capacity, like Mexico, Equitable Value Addition (EVA) offers a promising pathway to move beyond extractive dependency and generate shared prosperity. However, this opportunity is not guaranteed, and risks have to be carefully weighed. Moreover, unless EVA strategies prioritize gender equity, they risk reinforcing the same inequalities that persist today.
From extraction to equity
Mexico is a top global producer of 17 key metals and minerals, including copper, silver, graphite and manganese—vital inputs for the electronics, renewable energy and automotive industries. It also holds significant lithium resources, positioning the country as a potential leader in global mineral value chains. Mining contributes 2.7 percent to national GDP and about 9 percent to industrial GDP, employing around 400,000 people directly and supporting over 2 million jobs indirectly.
Additionally, Mexico ranks fifth in vehicle production and third in exports. The automotive industry generates over $100 billion annually—mostly through trade with the U.S.—and contributes around 4.7 percent to the national GDP and over 20 percent to the manufacturing GDP. This sector also supports more than one million direct jobs and more than 3.5 million indirect jobs.
These two sectors—mining and automative manufacturing—are central to Mexico’s economic future. Yet both are marked by deep gender disparities. Women make up only 17 percent of the mining workforce and just 12 percent occupy leadership positions. In the automotive industry, women represent 37 percent of total employees, but only 13 percent of its manufacturing workforce.
Beyond underrepresentation, women also face real safety threats. Nationwide, over 70 percent of women in Mexico report having experienced some form of violence. In public transport, the problem is especially acute: in industrial zones, for instance, 60 percent of women report abuse during their commutes. In addition, 28 percent of women have faced violence at work. Alarmingly, up to 94 percent of women do not file a report or request support.
EVA as a dual-purpose strategy
There is growing recognition that the energy transition must not deepen existing inequalities. NRGI is contributing to this conversation by highlighting the dual opportunity presented by EVA. Economically, it supports countries like Mexico in moving up the value chain—from raw material exports to high-value goods. Socially, it opens pathways to gender equity by promoting access to formal, well-paid and secure jobs for women across the mineral and manufacturing sectors. We have also promoted this proposal through the T20, calling on the G20 to establish a global framework for value addition and fair benefit-sharing.
A just transition demands gender equality and social inclusion at every stage—from minerals extraction to value addition. To succeed, the transition must be driven by governance that prioritizes these objectives, including gender-responsive due diligence along supply chains and local policies that link green technologies to tangible benefits for women.
Connecting agendas: The example of Hermosillo
The transition to electric vehicles (EVs) is transforming the auto industry, but not all jobs will carry over. Only one-third of in EV-related job categories align with skill sets from internal combustion engine roles, making reskilling essential. Yet only 30 percent of STEM professionals in Mexico are women, limiting their access to future opportunities.
A gender-inclusive EVA strategy must therefore include:
- Reskilling programs targeted at women
- Incentives for female entrepreneurship in mineral processing and tech sectors
- Employment quotas or targets for women across the value chain
In Hermosillo, political will is driving meaningful change. The local government has introduced a development plan with gender-focused initiatives: electric transport (buses and taxis) driven by women for women, improved public lighting in high-risk areas, solar panel installation in female-headed households, and the creation of a cooperative focused on empowering women in the renewable energy sector. This is only one example of what the linkages of how gender-responsive EVAs can connect green technology with social impact in practice.
Why gender impact assessment matter
For women in mining communities to truly benefit from shared infrastructure, training and local value chains, strong gender-sensitive assessments that identify barriers and guide practical solutions are essential. These assessments should be mandated and monitored by governments, implemented by mining companies, and enriched through the active participation of civil society.
Across Latin America, some countries are already making strides. For example, in Argentina’s Catamarca province—also home to key transition minerals like lithium—the government has integrated a gender indicator into environmental impact declarations since 2022. This requires mining companies to assess gender-specific impacts throughout all stages of mining projects, from exploration to closure. Driven by local community advocacy and supported by the Intergovernmental Forum on Mining (IGF), this policy aims to foster safer, more inclusive workplaces.
This kind of targeted, governance-led approach offers a useful model for Mexico. As the country expands investments into transition minerals, Mexico has the opportunity to apply similar tools grounded in local realities to ensure mining delivers for both the energy transition and gender equity.
What needs to happen
For EVA to be both economically transformative and socially just, creating an enabling environment is crucial. In Mexico context, policymakers at the federal and state levels should champion reforms that remove legal barriers and guarantee women’s rights and participation in all segments of the mineral value chain. This includes:
- Equitable licensing and market access
- Targeted financial support
- Affordable and adequate childcare, social services and public infrastructure
- Technical training for women in STEM fields
At the same time, industry actors, including mining companies, automakers, and suppliers, must adopt gender-responsive policies—especially in hiring, workplace safety and procurement. Civil society organizations, too, play a key role in monitoring implementation, advocating for accountability and amplifying women’s voices in decision-making.
Cross-sector collaboration is essential. Government agencies, CAMIMEX, WIM-Mexico, international organizations and trade associations should work together to develop inclusive and gender-equitable opportunities along the value chain. Public data disclosure and Environmental Impact Assessments (EIAs) are vital for tracking progress.
Inclusive public-private partnerships and regular multi-stakeholder dialogue can help subnational governments and communities capture value locally, and mitigate against potential challenges, while preparing for future opportunities in the global energy transition.
A choice to lead
Mexico is well positioned to lead a just energy transition that values both its natural resources and its people. The current administration’s Plan México aims to place the country among the world’s top 10 economies by focusing on green industrialization, including development of the EV value chain and renewable energy.
But to turn this vision into lasting socio-economic benefits, gender equity must be a core element of the EVA approach, not an afterthought. The real question is not whether EVA can drive gender equity, but whether those with power, namely policymakers, business leaders, civil society and local stakeholders, will choose to make it do so.
Authors
Fernanda Ballesteros
Mexico Country Manager
Talia Contreras
Mexico Program Officer
Emma Dahmani
Programs Officer