Priorities for the United Nations High-Level Expert Advisory Group on Critical Energy Transition Minerals

In December 2024, the Natural Resource Governance Institute convened actors from international agencies, mineral-producing governments, civil society, industry, and academia at the Rockefeller Foundation’s Bellagio Center. The gathering identified steps that actors should prioritize to support equitable economic development in low- and middle-income mineral-producing countries. 

The group considered the recent United Nations Secretary-General’s Panel on Critical Energy Transition Minerals Report  Resourcing the Energy Transition: Principles to Guide Critical Energy Transition Minerals Toward Equity and Justice, particularly the report's Actionable Recommendation 1 to “accelerate greater benefit sharing, value addition and economic diversification” through the establishment of “a High-Level Expert Advisory Group to facilitate a multi-stakeholder dialogue on ‘Accelerating Critical Energy Transition Minerals Value Addition Towards Equity.’” 

This paper provides recommendations developed by convening participants to help inform the work of the High-Level Expert Advisory Group (HLEAG) on benefit sharing, value addition, and economic diversification, and highlights connections between these policy areas and other actionable recommendations.  The paper proposes four priority goals on which the HLEAG’s work should focus:

1. A fair share of benefits from mining that are distributed equitably and managed well.
2. Value-addition projects that benefit people.
3. A diversified economy that benefits from—but does not depend on—minerals.
4. Trade, finance, and investment that supports, rather than hinders, sustainable development and diversification of low- and middle-income mineral-producing countries and regions.

The paper also includes a gap analysis of the broader sectoral context and stakeholders relevant to HLEAG actions on the four priority goal areas, as well as covering practical recommendations on the HLEAG's role, structure, and composition.