Ghana’s mining experience exposes the risks of weak environmental governance, while industry representatives and Armenian regulators debate standards, enforcement and responsible mineral supply chains.
Ghana case study warns against repeating mining damage as industry and regulators discuss safeguards.
Discussions at the UN biodiversity summit (COP17) in Yerevan, Armenia, have highlighted the need for stronger safeguards to prevent mining for clean energy minerals from damaging ecosystems and community livelihoods.
Minerals such as lithium, cobalt and copper support batteries, electricity networks and renewable energy technologies. But their exploration, extraction and processing can put pressure on forests, water resources and communities when environmental governance is weak.
Two separate discussions on the sidelines of COP17 examined approaches ranging from binding mining restrictions to industry standards and stronger regulatory oversight.
Ghana case highlights risks
At a side event on 22 October titled “Critical energy transition minerals and biodiversity: managing trade-offs for a just transition”, a presentation drawing on Ghana and the wider African continent cautioned against repeating past mining damage.
It warned that expanding lithium and cobalt production could reproduce the environmental and social costs associated with gold mining if governments and businesses continued to prioritise markets and revenue over safeguards and shared prosperity.
Photographs accompanying the slides showed excavated landscapes, mining pits and discoloured waterways.
Separately, Daniel Bosu, Deputy National Director of A Rocha Ghana, said women in mining-affected communities were complaining that illegal mining activities were destroying access roads to their farms and the farmland on which their livelihoods depend.
The Ghana-focused presentation mapped reported occurrences of lithium, cobalt, graphite, rare earth elements, bauxite and iron ore. It highlighted the Atewa Range Forest in its discussion of bauxite.
The slides raised concerns about mining licences affecting protected areas, weak enforcement, inadequate environmental assessments and investment incentives that accelerate extraction without sufficient protection for sensitive ecosystems.
The Ghana-focused presentation called for enforceable mining exclusion zones, where extraction would be prohibited, traceable supply chains and independent monitoring, alongside protection of water resources and community rights.
Ghana revoked Legislative Instrument 2462, which had opened forest reserves to mining, in 2025. Conservation groups welcomed the repeal but stressed that enforcement remained critical amid continuing illegal mining and other threats.
The presentation also highlighted IUCN Resolution 103, adopted in Abu Dhabi in 2025, on safeguarding biodiversity and human rights in energy transition mineral governance.
According to its programme, the side event was designed to support South-South knowledge exchange on responsible mining and biodiversity conservation. Its objectives included sharing approaches to environmental protection and exploring how developing countries could secure greater benefits from mineral value chains.
Industry standards and oversight
At a separate panel titled “Critical Mineral Resources and Green Transition: Global Responsible Supply Chains”, representatives of Zangezur Copper Molybdenum Combine (ZCMC), Armenia’s Environmental Protection and Mining Inspection Body and international partners discussed industry practices and oversight.
Vardan Jhanyan, ZCMC’s First Deputy General Director, argued that mineral extraction was essential to renewable energy deployment and that companies should apply international standards to limit environmental harm.
“There are relevant international standards and sustainability standards that mining companies can follow to minimize their impact,” he said.
Armen Stepanyan, the company’s Deputy General Director and Director of Sustainable Development, argued that mining and biodiversity conservation could coexist when companies strictly followed standards and regulations.
Stepanyan said ZCMC was investing in forest restoration as a sustained effort intended to protect the environment and support the company’s long-term viability.
John Lindberg, Policy and Government Affairs Principal at the International Council on Mining and Metals, said minerals were central to technologies including wind turbines, solar panels, batteries and electric vehicles.
“However, the challenge is that we need to extract more, but we must do so responsibly,” he said.
Lindberg said companies should apply stringent standards at their operating sites and require suppliers to meet comparable requirements.
Hovhannes Martirosyan, Head of Armenia’s Environmental Protection and Mining Inspection Body, said the country used a risk-based approach to determine when mining companies should be inspected.
Inspectors checked compliance with environmental assessment requirements and approved project plans, he said.
Martirosyan also outlined plans for a digital platform intended to help detect and prevent violations.
“According to our plans, the system will begin operating in early 2029,” he said.
