Washington, D.C. — Leading environmental and other civil society organizations submitted joint comments to the Office of U.S. Trade Representative today on critical minerals supply chain standards needed to advance shared climate and sustainable development goals. The submission was made as part of an official request for comments on “Promoting Supply Chain Resilience,” including for components of “electric vehicle and large-scale energy storage batteries.”
The groups’ joint submission states that “initiatives aimed at improving critical minerals supply chains must do so in a manner that prioritizes meeting the climate, job creation, and sustainable development goals of both the United States and its trading partners, while also advancing a global race-to-the-top in human rights.”
The comments make policy recommendations in a variety of areas, including:
- Promoting critical minerals circularity;
- Supporting sustainable development and job creation;
- Ensuring free, prior and informed consent;
- Protecting worker rights and on-the-job safety;
- Advancing environmental protections;
- Requiring ownership transparency;
- Enabling effective enforcement; and
- Embracing public participation.
The comments further criticize the recent U.S.-Japan Critical Minerals Agreement as setting “a concerning precedent” and state that meeting climate and development goals in a manner that avoids exploitative resource extraction models will require “the development of agreements with enforceable rules” and “the careful selection of partner countries willing and able to enforce those terms or face sanctions.”
The 39 organizational signers of the comments include the Center for International Environmental Law (CIEL), Center for Biological Diversity, Climate Rights International, Council on American-Islamic Relations, Earthjustice, Earthworks, Friends of the Congo, Friends of the Earth U.S., Global Justice Transition, Mighty Earth, Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), Presbyterian Church (USA) Washington Office of Public Witness, Plug In America, Public Citizen, Sierra Club, The United Methodist Church General Board of Church and Society, Trade Justice Education Fund, United Electrical, Radio & Machine Workers (UE) and others.
While most of the signers are based in the United States, international organizations including the Australian Fair Trade and Investment Network (AFTINET), Friends of the Earth Europe, PowerShift e.V. in Germany, Satya Bumi in Indonesia, the Southern and Eastern Africa Trade Information and Negotiations Institute (SEATINI) and others also joined the submission.
A PDF of the joint comments and full list of signers is available at: https://tradejusticeedfund.org/wp-content/uploads/TradeJustice_PromotingSupplyChainResilienceJointSubmission_Final.pdf
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