at the core of all the critical mineral value chains, especially the integration of civil and political rights with socio-economic and cultural rights. This includes social protection for women and the 40-hour work week. Second is the need to safeguard the integrity of the planet and its environ- ment and biodiversity. The third is that justice and equity must underpin crit- ical mineral value chains. The fourth is the right to development, which must be fostered through benefit sharing, value addition and economic diversifi- cation. Fifth is the need for investment, finance and trade to be responsible. Sixth is transparency, accountability and anti- corruption, because some developing countries have mortgaged their futures in contracts that cede benefits in perpe- tuity without conditions because they needed money for development. Seventh is the importance of multilateral and international cooperation: if countries collaborate, there might be a better way to anchor the global economy so global peace is secured. How well have the principles been accepted and implemented? Everyone’s talking about creating their own guardrails, drawing on the panel’s work. The International Labour Organ- ization is taking these principles into account in assessing member states. The Human Rights Council is developing an approach inspired by our work. But imple- mentation will rely on governments, intergovernmental processes and multi- lateral institutions – and especially civil society. The bigger issue is geopolitical contes- tations. Big powers are assuming there are ways to bypass the principles. Surely in this day and age you cannot appro- priate or seize territory. Yet we’ve seen attempts to do this. We are seeing more attempts to reach agreement among small groups of coun- tries or between regions, however. The principles can be used to assess those agreements. To catalyse the implemen- tation of these principles, we proposed a global traceability framework. That’s pertinent in areas of conflict such as the Democratic Republic of Congo, where the situation is horrific for children and women. The principles point to collab- oration and cooperation, rather than a winner-takes-all situation.
How can the G20 leaders best help get the principles implemented and improved? South Africa is building on India’s work on critical minerals to have a programmatic framework. That is the value of multilateral discussions or intergovernmental pro- cesses. Timeframes may not always allow for sufficient discussions to produce high- level ambitious outcomes. South Africa’s proposal draws on the guiding principles for many developing countries, which often don’t even know the full extent of what they have. It would serve the global econ- omy to understand what are the sum total of reserves and where they are available so we can make sure that the value chains enable everybody to share them equitably and justly. It is my hope that the G20 leaders will come out with an understanding of how fundamentally the global economy has changed, because of technological advances that have created unease – and at the centre of those advances are criti- cal minerals. Care needs to be exercised in advance, rather than leaping from crisis to crisis. G20 leaders must fully grasp the extent to which these minerals are so important. This places the responsibility on them. But it’s a process. They will not be able to do it in one shot. They need to con- tinue the conversation.
// NOZIPHO J. MXAKATO-DISEKO Nozipho J. Mxakato-Diseko
co-chaired the High-Level Panel on Critical Energy Transition Minerals established by United Nations sec- retary general António Guterres in 2024. A former G20 sherpa for South Africa, she chaired the Independ- ent Advisory Panel on the Review of the G20@20. She served as South Africa’s permanent representative to the UN and other international organisations in Geneva and Vienna. As ambassador at large for cli- mate change, she negotiated the Paris Agreement. She also served as ambassador at large for peace and security, human rights and develop- ment, and was sherpa for the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.
101 globalgovernanceproject.org
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