UN Secretary-General Says Critical Minerals Must Benefit Developing Countries

Jakarta (ANTARA) – United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres has stressed that critical minerals, which are key commodities in the energy transition, must generate reciprocal benefits for the developing countries that own them.

“We must ensure that mineral-rich countries receive a much greater share of the economic value while building local industries and creating decent jobs,” the UN chief said in a statement delivered at the Foreign Policy Circle Talks event at Indonesia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Jakarta on Monday.

Guterres noted that Indonesia, along with several other developing countries, is endowed with abundant critical minerals that play a major role in driving the global renewable-energy revolution.

He emphasised that Indonesia and other countries in similar circumstances should secure greater economic benefits from the critical minerals they possess.

The UN chief also highlighted Indonesia’s role in advancing the transition to renewable energy, noting that it is the world’s sixth-largest greenhouse-gas emitter.

Climate change is already having major consequences, from famine and economic instability to rising temperatures that could “exceed the 1.5-degree Celsius limit in the coming years”.

“I appreciate President Prabowo Subianto’s ambition for a 100-gigawatt solar power project, as well as Indonesia’s target of energy self-sufficiency to accelerate the transition,” he added.

Guterres said accelerating the clean-energy transition could bring economic benefits through industrialisation, job creation, energy security and greater competitiveness.

He also stressed the importance of developed countries’ participation and support in helping developing countries advance the transition and strengthen energy security.

He noted that a number of developed countries had pledged to provide US$300 billion a year to support the transition in developing countries and to double climate-adaptation finance.