Allegations of human rights abuses linked to the mines supplying clean energy minerals rose by 73% in 2025, with nearly seven in 10 implicated operations tied to listed companies.
That is the finding of the 2026 Transition Minerals Tracker, published by the Business and Human Rights Centre, which recorded 329 allegations worldwide last year – up from 156 in 2024. The data represents the largest year-on-year increase since the tracker began, the organisation says.
The report implicates the full renewable energy supply chain. Almost 70% of mines associated with at least one allegation are owned by or linked to listed companies, exposing investors to what the researchers describe as significant material risk. In 2025 alone, community resistance led to 27 mine suspensions, slowdowns or closures, while one in seven allegations – 44 out of 329 – resulted in lawsuits or regulatory action.
Corporate accountability is highlighted as a critical weakness. Just 10 companies and 33 mines, out of 299 tracked, were associated with 50% of all 2025 allegations. Close to half of mines linked to allegations lacked a basic public human rights policy.
The geographic spread is extensive, says the report. Africa recorded the sharpest rise, with 100 allegations – a 122% increase on 2024. South America logged 97, nearly double the previous year’s figure. All regions saw a surge. Workers’ rights and safety recorded 92 allegations, including 22 deaths – itself nearly double the 2024 figure.
Copper, which accounts for around a quarter of renewable energy mineral demand, is associated with 60% of all allegations recorded since 2010. Growing risks were also identified for iron ore, bauxite, nickel and rare earth elements. Since 2010, a total of 1,226 allegations have been recorded across the tracker’s dataset.
Blanca Racionero Gomez, natural resources and just energy transition senior researcher at the Business and Human Rights Centre, said: “This year’s data is the biggest increase we have ever seen year-to-year and makes clear that this is no longer an emerging issue.
“The world cannot build a clean energy future on the foundation of human rights abuses – and one built in this way will not ultimately succeed. The minerals powering our clean energy future are being extracted at a growing human cost, with allegations of abuse up 73% in a single year – and Indigenous communities, workers, environmental defenders and women paying the heaviest price. A small number of powerful mining companies are responsible for the lion’s share of this harm – and too many are operating without even the most basic human rights policies in place.”
She added: “This is a moral failure, and a strategic one: we can see communities are fighting back, mines are being shut down, and supply chains are being disrupted. Every year of inaction risks more harm to those on the frontlines, as well as another year of risk accumulating for investors and companies who have the power, and the responsibility, to do better.”
Social conflict around mining operations is already translating into operational disruption, the organisation says. The tracker recorded 173 cases of conflict in 2025, including 61 protests, 10 strikes and 44 lawsuits or regulatory actions.
Racionero Gomez said: “Mining companies and their investors cannot treat human rights as a compliance exercise. Respect for human rights, fair negotiations, the FPIC of Indigenous Peoples, and protection for people raising concerns about mining impacts are essential conditions for a successful energy transition.
“Where these safeguards are absent, conflict follows. Communities resist, projects stall, supply chains become less reliable, and risks for investors and companies grow. A just transition is not only the right approach – it is the only durable one.”
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