Mineral extraction from colonialism to neocolonialism

The term “Global South” throws a large number of highly diverse countries into one pot and treats these as more or less uniform. It is therefore often “criticized for perpetuating colonial dynamics”. Its use can, however, be helpful “precisely because it captures th[e] potentially extractive relationship between rich countries, many of which were once colonial powers, and poorer countries, many of which were once colonies”.^[i] This use of the term is particularly helpful in the context of metals, minerals, and other so-called ‘critical raw materials’, as there has been a long colonial history of Global North countries extracting and removing these resources from Global South countries.

Still today, we see neocolonial powers at play in the metals, minerals, and other raw materials sectors — with many old exploration rights and mining licences still in place for companies from the Global North active in Global South countries. Beyond this, it is commonplace to see resources extracted in the Global South at low wages or with little benefits to the local communities, only for the price of these materials to increase by a multiple when they are exported and have been processed into refined raw materials or used to produce expensive end products.^[ii]

Sourcing raw materials from the Global South today

Across the board, there are high levels of geographical concentration when it comes to both the presence, extraction, and processing of critical raw materials. While Australia and Canada “play a significant role in the global production of critical raw materials, “a large part of the risks and opportunities associated with increasing extraction and processing of [critical raw materials] will fall on developing countries, many of which are in the Global South”.^[iii] According to the Heinrich Böll Foundation, “[t]he clearest risk for resource-rich countries in the Global South is that hunger for [critical raw materials] in the Global North increases all of the negative environmental and human impacts of mining by prioritizing supply at all costs”.^[iv]

In this context, it is worth noting that in 2022, “70% of the world’s cobalt supply was mined in” — and the EU sourced 68% of its cobalt from — the Democratic Republic of Congo. Also in 2022, over 23% of the copper used globally and 78% of the lithium used in Europe came from Chile. At the same time, 50% of the world’s nickel came from Indonesia and “70% of platinum, 89% of iridium, and 36% of manganese” came from South Africa.^[v] To assure that no shortages in so-called “critical raw materials” arise, the EU and other Global North countries have been concluding different bilateral trade agreements over the past few years, aimed at sourcing CRMs from the Global South. One example of this is the EU-Chile Interim Trade Agreement.^[vi]

New shift in power over to the Global South

The limited availability of critical raw materials in the Global North shifts the agency in these global value chains southwards. Countries in the Global North call the intercontinental dependency on critical raw materials a ‘strategic vulnerability’. Simultaneously, it gives countries in the Global South a crucial bargaining chip and agency within geopolitical relations. For example, the Lithium Triangle in Bolivia, Chile, and Argentina contains 53.43% of the known global lithium resources, a material fundamental in EV batteries.^[vii]

Regions with an abundance of critical raw materials are high-interest areas for globally dominant actors. In line with this, neocolonial patterns persist within the extractive projects of critical raw materials in the Global South.^[viii] Multinational corporations from the EU, the US, or China capture the majority of the added value, while local communities in Global South regions are left with environmental degradation and poor labour conditions (see Palsa & Pulk’s interactive tool to learn more).

These relationships are, however, likely to change in accordance with the volatile and rapidly changing world order.^[ix] First examples of this can be seen in Global South countries that are able to break this neocolonial cycle and capitalize on their natural resources to obtain better bargaining power. For example, the Bolivian president declared lithium a ‘strategic resource’, nationalized the industry, and instated legislation to prevent foreign investments.^[x] Moreover, international South-South cooperations are expanding and gaining traction and power, such as the BRICS or the African Union.^[xi] These international partnerships help reshape the current hegemonic structure and oppose solely extractive activities, e.g. in the African Mining Vision.

Global initiatives changing the power dynamics in raw materials

In general, strong institutions are required to regain the power and profits of a country’s critical raw materials. Accordingly, government action has to be transparent, corruption eradicated or minimized, and institutions have to be able to achieve policy goals.^[xii] Potential ways forward include nationalization of the resources, export restrictions, and national industrialization of the value chain. Such interventions are part of a long, multidisciplinary, and localized process towards stronger geopolitical power and a fairer redistribution of benefits within the critical raw material value chains.^[xiii] Simultaneously, important caveats should be considered, such as domestic elite capture and the adverse effects of limited foreign direct investment and technology transfer.^[xiv]

Shifts in geopolitical relations to the South can be seen worldwide and across different organizational levels. For example, Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI) is an intergovernmental organization that spans across countries in Africa and Latin-America, with the goal to strengthen their natural resource management through reinforcing national institutions.^[xv] Moreover, the UN Secretary-General António Guterres launched the Panel on Critical Energy Transition Materials, in which over 100 countries are participating. (An in-depth substantiation of the panel’s work can be found here.) Based on the panel’s work, the UN published the UN Guidance for Action on Critical Energy Transition Minerals in June 2025.^[xvi] Its goal is to promote sustainable raw material life cycles that reflect the needs for sustainable development in each specific context. While UN bodies have the power to propose top-down interventions, these policy plans can only materialize when they are met with bottom-up initiatives implementing these changes.^[xvii]

Consequently, bottom-up initiatives can be a significant driver in successfully mobilizing counterhegemonic interests, although this is usually encountered with strong political resistance.^[xviii] One key example of this are the Indigenous Communities in the Peruvian Andes, who oppose the extraction of raw materials in their territories through legal action.^[xix] As another key example, labour unions for workers in the mining industries can be highly effective in negotiating improved working conditions — for example, as has been done in South Africa.^[xx]

China’s growing dominance in raw materials

China plays a highly dominant role in the production of raw materials — as “most raw materials are refined in China”. In 2022, “China produced around 70% of rare earths, close to 65% of raw graphite, and around 30% of lithium” used globally. In line with this, “the EU currently sources virtually all its rare earths from China plus more than 90% of its magnesium needs”.^[xxi] At the same time, China also “refined all the world’s graphite, approximately 85% of rare earths, 70% of cobalt, 58% of lithium, and 42% of copper”.^[xxii] It, therefore, goes without saying that China’s dominant market position has an influence on the market prices and the retail conditions.

As the Heinrich Böll Foundation puts it their paper titled Transatlantic Strategy on Critical Raw Materials: “The West is perceived by some to engage in patronizing interference in the Global South, projecting values and judging that certain regimes do not legitimately represent the interests of their people”. They argue that “[t]his puts China, with its characteristically amoral approach, at an advantage in the contest for [critical raw material] supply”.^[xxiii]

The changing geopolitical reality in the mining for critical materials is demonstrated by the Chinese dominance on the African continent. China is a specific actor that is not easily categorized along the Global North-South division. However, the financial investments that are taking place in different African countries demonstrate their goal for local capacity-building and local processing of raw materials. For example, Prospect Lithium Zimbabwe opened a lithium processing facility to convert hard-rock lithium into concentrate. Additionally, Malawi is creating a special economic zone to transfer technology and infrastructure that stimulate the local titanium industry. While these extractive industries reinforce existing power dynamics that lead to labour precarity and environmental degradation^[xxiv], they can also enable local job creation, infrastructure development and local market stimulation — the China-Africa collaboration could be seen as an example of this.^[xxv]

Ways to keep the value from raw materials in the Global South

Countries in the Global South “are taking steps to retain more of the value of [critical raw material] supply chains, principally through export bans on raw materials”.^[xxvi] In place of export bans, building up more local refining capacity in — and shifting more refining to — countries in the Global South could be one way of making sure these countries could see more of the value and prosperity created by the mining of metals, minerals, and other raw materials. Companies can play a key role in this by setting up facilities and investing in the refining in Global South countries.

Beyond this, when it comes to the sourcing of raw materials for the energy transition, it is important to keep social and justice questions in mind. It is also worth noting that “policies for the Global South lean heavily on engagement from the private sector”.^[xxvii] For a just transition to be possible, many of the existing partnerships between Global North and Global South countries must be reimagined. In line with this, in their article for Social Europe, Bernhard Tröster, Simela Papatheophilou, and Karin Küblböck argue that: “In the short to medium term, [Europe must start] genuinely enforcing environmental and social standards in extractive sectors and actively supporting resource-rich countries’ efforts to move beyond unprocessed raw material exports, particularly in the Global South”.^[xxviii] Setting up governance, conducting due diligence, auditing, monitoring, as well as reporting on supply chains play a core role in making this possible — and are examples of concrete actions companies can take.

Tröster, Papatheophilou and Küblböck also argue that: “Looking ahead, as Europe transitions toward a circular economy, [...] partner countries [in the Global South] must not be abandoned”. They explain that to achieve this “[t]he long-term shift from primary extraction to secondary material use must incorporate international cooperation on recycling technologies, waste management, and resource efficiency” and argue that “[o]nly by integrating these nations into future circular systems can the EU ensure an equitable and sustainable raw materials transition for all”.^[xxix]

The next newsletter will explore recent developments in responsible business and investment practices. If you want to be notified when it comes out, please subscribe below.

About the authors

Teun Bastiaans studied sustainable development at Utrecht University. His interests include geopolitics, human-nature relations, and political ecology. Teun has conducted research on local economic incentives for farmers producing bamboo in the Eje Cafetero (Colombia), and on urban water security in Mexico City (Mexico). In the past, he has also collaborated with Palsa & Pulk to develop an interactive tool on the lifecycles of EV batteries.

Christine Nikander is the founder of the environmental and social sustainability consultancy, Palsa & Pulk. She frequently speaks and writes about the environmental and human rights issues that arise through global supply chains, the energy transition, and the mining of critical raw minerals. Christine studied law at the universities of Columbia (New York), Edinburgh (Scotland), and Leiden (the Netherlands). She has been writing The E-Waste Column weekly since 2022 and she co-created The E-Waste Learning Hub that was launched in September 2025.

About Palsa & Pulk

Palsa & Pulk is an environmental and social sustainability consultancy. It provides compliance, governance, policy, and strategic advice to its clients. The consultancy’s work is mostly focused on supply chain governance, the just transition, circular economy, and human rights.

About The E-Waste Column

The E-Waste Column is a weekly column about e-waste, transition minerals, and critical raw materials. It touches on a range of topics including ESG, sustainable development, circular economy, EU law and policymaking, corporate social responsibility, the transition to renewable energy, the EU Green Deal, supply chain due diligence and auditing, human environmental rights, business and human rights, climate law, and corporate sustainability.

Stay up to date

Our monthly newsletter is published here on Substack, on LinkedIn, and on our blog. Subscribe to be notified when our newsletters are published.

^[i] Jacob Mardel, Heinrich Böll Foundation, Transatlantic Strategy on Critical Raw Materials, https://us.boell.org/en/2024/03/06/transatlantic-strategy-critical-raw-materials, p. 7

^[ii] Susan Nakanwagi (2023). Critical Minerals and the Global Energy Transition: Recognising Global South Perspectives, Global Energy Law and Sustainability, 4(1-2). https://doi.org/10.3366/gels.2023.0096; Stacciarini, J., & de Assis Fernandes Gonçalves, R. Jnr (2025). Energy Transition and Mining in the Global South. https://doi.org/10.31235/osf.io/n8m57_v1; Bleeker, R., Zhu, G., van Uffelen, B., & Wittig V. (March 2023). Green transitions?, How clean energy technologies in the Global North are fuelling extractivism in the Global South, Rijksuniversiteit Groningen, Special Issue. https://share.google/NCoopceqQLX0aVicS

^[iii] Jacob Mardel, Heinrich Böll Foundation, Transatlantic Strategy on Critical Raw Materials, https://us.boell.org/en/2024/03/06/transatlantic-strategy-critical-raw-materials, p. 7

^[iv] Jacob Mardel, Heinrich Böll Foundation, Transatlantic Strategy on Critical Raw Materials, https://us.boell.org/en/2024/03/06/transatlantic-strategy-critical-raw-materials, p. 8

^[v] Hertie School, Jacques Delors Centre, The Club Approach: Towards Successful EU Critical Raw Materials Diplomacy, https://www.delorscentre.eu/en/publications/critical-raw-materials-club

^[vi] European Commission (2025). The EU-Chile Interim Trade Agreement (ITA) explained, https://policy.trade.ec.europa.eu/eu-trade-relationships-country-and-region/countries-and-regions/chile/eu-chile-agreement/eu-chile-interim-trade-agreement-ita-explained_en

^[vii] U.S. Geological Survey, January 2023, Mining in the Lithium Triangle. https://greenstocksresearch.com/lithium-triangle/

^[viii] Boafo, J., Dotsey, S., & Spencer, R. (2025). Energy transition diplomacy: The EU’s pursuit of Africa’s critical minerals for renewable energy at whose expense? Energy Research & Social Science, 127, 104213. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.erss.2025.104213

^[ix] Stares, P.B., et al. (2020) Perspectives on a Changing World Order. Center for Preventive Action. https://www.cfr.org/report/perspectives-changing-world-order

^[x] Ley 928 de 2017 (2017). LEY DE LA EMPRESA PÚBLICA NACIONAL ESTRATÉGICA DE YACIMIENTOS DE LITIO BOLIVIANOS – YLB. https://mineria.gob.bo/juridica/20170427-13-12-42.pdf

^[xi] African Union (2009). African Mining Vision https://au.int/en/documents/20100212/africa-mining-vision-amv

^[xii] Saha, S., & Sen, K. (2023). Do economic and political crises lead to corruption? The role of institutions. Economic Modelling, 124, 106307. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.econmod.2023.106307

^[xiii] Runganga, D., Ashworth, P., & Bharadwaj, B. (2025). Towards advancing the Global South’s understanding of mineral criticality: implications of the North–South geopolitical confrontations on critical minerals. The Extractive Industries and Society, 23, 101680. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.exis.2025.101680

^[xiv] Chen, Z., Awan, U., Nassani, A. A., Al-Aiban, K. M., & Zaman, K. (2024). Enhancing sustainable growth in the global south: The role of mineral resource management, supply chain efficiency, technology advancement, and local downstream processing. Resources Policy, 100, 105451. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.resourpol.2024.105451

^[xv] EITI (2025). Driving impact. https://eiti.org/driving-impact

^[xvi] United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (2025). UN Guidance for Action on Critical Energy Transition Minerals, https://unece.org/sustainable-energy/publications/un-guidance-action-critical-energy-transition-minerals

^[xvii] Eicken, H., Danielsen, F., Sam, J. M., Fidel, M., Johnson, N., Poulsen, M. K., Lee, O. A., Spellman, K. V., Iversen, L., Pulsifer, P., & Enghoff, M. (2021). Connecting Top-Down and Bottom-Up Approaches in Environmental Observing. BioScience, 71(5). https://doi.org/10.1093/biosci/biab018

^[xviii] Terra Justa (2020) Defense of Territory and the Criminalisation of Social Protest in Mining Contexts in Peru.https://terra-justa.org/resource/defense-of-territory-and-the-criminalisation-of-social-protest-in-mining-contexts-in-peru/

^[xix] Forest Peoples Programme (2021). Press Release: Indigenous Kichwa Community take Peruvian State and National Park to Court https://www.forestpeoples.org/publications-resources/press-releases/article/press-release-indigenous-kichwa-community-take-peruvian-state-and-national-park-to-court/

^[xx] National Union of Miner Workers (2025). About us.

https://num.org.za/

^[xxi] Hertie School, Jacques Delors Centre, The Club Approach: Towards Successful EU Critical Raw Materials Diplomacy, https://www.delorscentre.eu/en/publications/critical-raw-materials-club

^[xxii] Hertie School, Jacques Delors Centre, The Club Approach: Towards Successful EU Critical Raw Materials Diplomacy, https://www.delorscentre.eu/en/publications/critical-raw-materials-club

^[xxiii] Jacob Mardel, Heinrich Böll Foundation, Transatlantic Strategy on Critical Raw Materials, https://us.boell.org/en/2024/03/06/transatlantic-strategy-critical-raw-materials, p. 10

^[xxiv] Herzer Risi, L., & Doyle, C. (2023, July 18). Examining China’s impact on mining in Africa: Critiques and credible responses. Wilson Center. https://www.wilsoncenter.org/blog-post/examining-chinas-impact-mining-africa-critiques-and-credible-responses

^[xxv] World Bank (2025). Malawi Economic Monitor: The Rising Cost of Inaction and the Potential of Malawi’s Mining Sector. World Bank. https://www.worldbank.org/en/country/malawi/publication/malawi-economic-monitor-the-rising-cost-of-inaction-and-afe-the-potential-of-malawi-s-mining-sector

^[xxvi] Jacob Mardel, Heinrich Böll Foundation, Transatlantic Strategy on Critical Raw Materials, https://us.boell.org/en/2024/03/06/transatlantic-strategy-critical-raw-materials, p. 11

^[xxvii] Jacob Mardel, Heinrich Böll Foundation, Transatlantic Strategy on Critical Raw Materials, https://us.boell.org/en/2024/03/06/transatlantic-strategy-critical-raw-materials, p. 13

^[xxviii] Tröster, B., Papatheophilou, S., & Küblböck, K. (2025). Europe’s Critical Raw Materials Strategy Demands Equitable Global Partnerships, https://www.socialeurope.eu/europes-critical-raw-materials-strategy-demands-equitable-global-partnerships

^[xxix] Tröster, B., Papatheophilou, S., & Küblböck, K. (2025). Europe’s Critical Raw Materials Strategy Demands Equitable Global Partnerships, https://www.socialeurope.eu/europes-critical-raw-materials-strategy-demands-equitable-global-partnerships

Bamboo as a source of biomass

There are several factors that make bamboo an attractive form of biomass for companies looking to produce bioenergy. First off, bamboo is “the fastest-growing plant on the planet”.^[i] It can grow up to “21 cm per day to an average height of 25 meters in the first 6 months”.^[ii] This means that cultivating bamboo can effectively be a quick way to produce biomass. Secondly, “bamboo regenerates even if the stems are cut or destroyed in a fire or storm” — making it fairly resilient to natural disasters which are increasing with climate change. Thirdly, bamboo “has a higher yield per acre than other crops, meaning it can produce more usable material in the same amount of space”. It also requires “very little water, pesticides, or fertilisers to grow, making it a more sustainable option for agriculture”.^[iii]

Beyond this, it is worth noting that the rhizomes — “which are underground stems that grow horizontally and can give rise to new shoots and roots” — of some bamboo species, such as Moso and Madake from the Phyllostachys genus, “help it survive adverse conditions, such as drought[s] or fire[s]”.^[iv] The rhizomes also prevent erosion, bind topsoil, and protect water quality. Bamboo is, therefore, “useful for stabilising slopes, riverbanks, degraded land, and areas prone to landslides”.^[v]

Few resources in the world have such diverse and sustainable applications as bamboo. Across Latin America, Africa, and Asia, bamboo serves as a nature-based solution in water and soil management, climate change mitigation, and sustainable production of consumer products.^[vi]

Using bioenergy from bamboo to diversify energy production

Given that bamboo is a fast-growing grass species, it has the potential to serve as an efficient and promising bioenergy source.^[vii] Bioenergy is a largely renewable energy source derived from biomass. Therefore, bioenergy takes advantage of the carbon fixated in living organisms through the fast carbon cycle, instead of interfering in the slow carbon cycle through fossil fuel extraction. Accordingly, FAO reports consider bamboo to be the “plant of the millennium”.^[viii] However, its current application as a bioenergy source is only considered to be a fraction of its full potential. It is therefore interesting to explore what the role of bamboo could look like in the future, and in what ways it can change our critical systems and infrastructure.

As of 2023, 24.5% of the European Union’s energy originates from renewable energy sources.^[ix] While each energy source has its socioeconomic and ecological benefits and risks for sustainability, the diversification of energy sources is crucial to mitigate dependency risks.^[x] For example, changing weather conditions (for solar and wind), geopolitical relations (for raw materials), and investment capacity (for nuclear) can be important barriers that inhibit the utilization of other energy sources.

According to the International Energy Agency, biomass is “the largest source of renewable energy globally, accounting for almost 55% of renewable energy (excluding traditional use of biomass) and over 6% of [the] global energy supply”.[xi] Yet, bamboo is still an underutilized source of bioenergy globally.[xii] Given the unsuitable climatic and geographic conditions on the European continent, bamboo cannot be cultivated locally. Therefore, as a bioenergy source, bamboo creates the opportunity to intensify intercontinental collaborations — for example, with Colombia.

Bamboo is a native species in the Andean region of Colombia, and currently large-scale cultivation projects are taking place in the agricultural plains of Meta, Colombia. Preliminary studies show the feasibility and benefits of Guadua pellets as a sustainable bioenergy source in the Dutch energy matrix,^[xiii] but empirically no projects have advanced yet.

Wood is an inefficient and slow source of bioenergy creation, compared to other sources of biomass energy.^[xiv] Whereas the life cycle of a tree (from germination to harvest) is between 12-15 years,^[xv] bamboo culms can produce bioenergy after a cycle of 3-5 years.^[xvi] Another highly productive species for bioenergy is sugarcane (also part of the family Gramineae/Poaceae). While bamboo’s high turnover rate and biomass yield creates multiple advantages, bamboo as a bioenergy source fails to sequester atmospheric carbon for longer periods of time, limiting its climate mitigation effect. Additionally, bamboo has high material qualities, with a tensile strength (strength-to-weight ratio) up to 4 times higher than that of steel.^[xvii] This leads to higher energy requirements to convert bamboo stems into, for example, combustible pellets. Overall, these are important limitations and side-effects to consider. Simultaneously, bamboo’s potential yield and carbon fixation rates are extraordinary and can provide significant benefits for the global carbon matrix.

Bamboo’s role in protecting biodiversity

The ecological impact of bamboo on the direct environment should be accounted for when considering its use as a bioenergy source. Generally, bamboo is a resilient species and can grow well on infertile and degraded lands.^[xviii] Therefore, it does not compete with the cultivation of other productive land uses. In the Colombian context, bamboo is better associated with its potential for renaturation, rather than deforestation. However, the risk for land-use competition can emerge when large-scale cultivation occurs in non-native areas, favoring bamboo over food production or forest areas.^[xix]

Sustainable land management strategies can limit these potentially negative ecological impacts of bamboo cultivation on an ecosystem. For example, bamboo is a fast-spreading species, but with strict management of the stands, the risk of invading other land use areas is limited.^[xx] These plants’ characteristics require careful attention and can strengthen their positive ecological impacts. For example, bamboo stands managed simultaneously for their production and conservation positively affect the biodiversity levels recorded inside the stands.^[xxi] “Bamboo forests support a high level of biodiversity, with many species of plants, animals, and microorganisms living within them.”^[xxii] This means that, if cultivated where it is domestic and if managed correctly, bamboo can have a positive impact on local biodiversity levels.

Periodic harvesting of mature bamboo culms fixates the carbon for the production of energy, while it creates space and provides sunlight for new culms to grow in the bamboo forest. As a result, bamboo rewrites the narrative on biomass cultivation. It thrives in the approach of moderation, as the most productive and ecologically beneficial bamboo forests strive for simultaneous conservation and production. Ultimately, this demonstrates that ecological and economic goals within natural resource management and bioenergy production can synergize with and reinforce one another.

Bamboo is not a silver bullet

Nonetheless, bamboo and other bioenergy sources cannot serve as the principal solution to solve global electrification challenges. Its potential is significant, but it is inherently limited by the geography, scale, alternative land-uses and socioeconomic conditions of the local inhabitants. For example, bamboo can be converted into pellets, biochar or ethanol as energy sources. However, these different energy carriers require industrial investment, expertise, and infrastructure — and these are not always present or developed yet. Secondly, the dependency on suitable climatic conditions for bamboo growth and cultivation creates an uncertainty in provision. Therefore, bamboo can contribute to overcoming the challenges in the international energy transition, but not overcome these by itself.

As with other forms of bioenergy, it is important to consider the areas needed to cultivate bamboo and the potential risk of changes to land use through bamboo when using it as biomass. If bamboo forests replace a rainforest, this can obviously not be seen as a sustainable solution. Situations where the cultivation of bamboo for bioenergy production leads to “large-scale monoculture plantations” of bamboo are not optimal.^[xxiii]

In this context, it is worth noting that there are examples of bamboo forests “expanding at the expense of natural vegetation, including clear-felling of old-growth forests”.^[xxiv] In these examples, the “clearing of natural forests for establishment of bamboo plantations; creation of monoculture plantations; loss of biodiversity; substantial use of fertilizers and pesticides despite claims that bamboo crops required neither of these treatments; and unsustainable harvesting of natural stands of bamboo” have occurred.^[xxv] Particularly large-scale bamboo forests in China have been linked to “biodiversity loss and ecosystem service decrease due to intensive management practices and the creation of monocultures; the clearing of forests and exploitation of forest resources; destructive use of fertilizer, herbicides, and pesticides; and [have used a] high quantity of water [...] for bamboo production”.^[xxvi]

In short, the “green status to bamboo products” needs to be assessed critically.^[xxvii] The use of reliable third-party certifications for bamboo could be one way to combat deforestation and change of land use.^[xxviii] The EU’s Regulation on Deforestation-Free Products (EUDR), notably however, does not apply to “[p]roducts made solely from bamboo”. In line with the definition of the FAO, “bamboo is a non-wood forest product, consequentially bamboo does not fall under the commodity wood”.^[xxix] Ultimately, the sustainable management of bamboo forests requires a deep understanding of the local ecological conditions. For example, the harvesting cycle is influenced by the position of the moon and local moisture levels.^[xxx] Therefore, in the critical assessment of whether a bamboo forest has been managed sustainably, the knowledge of local professionals is paramount.

More fundamentally, without the engagement of local landowners, workers, and the institutional strength to safeguard their living and working conditions, the transition from critical raw materials — needed in other renewable energy sources — to bioenergy merely shifts poor living conditions from one region to another. Therefore, a critical and location-specific perspective is crucial. What works in Colombia, and the socioeconomic benefits bamboo can create there, might not apply in India or Nigeria. The ecological goal for biomass energy is clear: the mitigation of carbon emissions by replacing fossil fuel emissions with net-zero alternatives. However, long-term sustainability can only be achieved through engagement from all actors, which is incentivized through fair payment, as well as participation in the decision-making and benefit-sharing process. With this socioeconomic baseline of low-carbon energy and socially just compensation, bamboo can create important synergies between producers in the Global South and consumers in the Global North.

Bamboo as an opportunity for energy companies

Bamboo could be considered an attractive form of biomass, not only because it grows quickly and efficiently, but also because of its ability to absorb carbon and pollutants from the air. Bamboo can be used to “absor[b] large amounts of carbon dioxide (CO₂) from the atmosphere”. Within 7 years, “newly planted bamboo sequesters up to 2 tonnes of CO₂”. This means that “[c]ompared to pine, bamboo can absorb up to five times more CO₂”. Beyond this “bamboo absorbs pollutants from the air, helping to improve air quality”.^[xxxi]

Therefore, bamboo is a biomass source for energy production with a high potential for energy companies across the value chain — in production, storage, distribution, or elsewhere in the energy network. First, its short life cycle, dense growth, and low input requirements can make it an economically competitive energy source to produce and export.^[xxxii] Secondly, the transport from bamboo-producing countries to the EU is considered to be technically and economically feasible, as well as sustainable.^[xxxiii] Thirdly, the energy generated from bamboo biomass takes place centrally, different from solar panels as a renewable energy source. As a result, the renewable energy generated from bamboo is better configured with energy grids worldwide, leading to less capacity challenges on national energy grids.

The potential of bamboo for the energy sector is significant, and the material can play a significant role in the future of global energy generation. Ultimately, it is up to “international cooperation between experts and stakeholders of many disciplines along the supply chain” to convert bamboo into “a sustainable biocommodity for future generations”.^[xxxiv]

Learn more about the energy transition by downloading the TransitionED app. Our next newsletter will explore the changing role of the Global South in the critical raw materials market. If you want to be notified when it comes out, please subscribe below.

About the authors

Teun Bastiaans studied sustainable development at Utrecht University. His interests include geopolitics, human-nature relations, and political ecology. Teun has conducted research on local economic incentives for farmers producing bamboo in the Eje Cafetero (Colombia), and on urban water security in Mexico City (Mexico). In the past, he has also collaborated with Palsa & Pulk to develop an interactive tool on the lifecycles of EV batteries.

Christine Nikander is the founder of the environmental and social sustainability consultancy, Palsa & Pulk. She frequently speaks and writes about the environmental and human rights issues that arise through global supply chains, the energy transition, and the mining of critical raw minerals. Christine studied law at the universities of Columbia (New York), Edinburgh (Scotland), and Leiden (the Netherlands). She has been writing The E-Waste Column weekly since 2022 and she co-created The E-Waste Learning Hub that was launched in September 2025.

About Palsa & Pulk

Palsa & Pulk is an environmental and social sustainability consultancy. It provides compliance, governance, policy, and strategic advice to its clients. The consultancy’s work is mostly focused on supply chain governance, the just transition, circular economy, and human rights.

Stay up to date

Our monthly newsletter is published here on Substack, on LinkedIn, and on our blog. Subscribe to be notified when our newsletters are published.

^[i] Green Earth Group, What kind of nature benefits does bamboo offer?, https://www.green.earth/blog/what-kind-of-nature-benefits-does-bamboo-offer (29.10.2025).

^[ii] Archila-Santos, H. F., Ansell, M. P., & Walker, P. (2012). Low carbon construction using Guadua bamboo in Colombia. Key Engineering Materials, 517, 127–134. https://doi.org/10.4028/www.scientific.net/KEM.517.127

^[iii] Green Earth Group, What kind of nature benefits does bamboo offer?, https://www.green.earth/blog/what-kind-of-nature-benefits-does-bamboo-offer (29.10.2025).

^[iv] Green Earth Group, What kind of nature benefits does bamboo offer?, https://www.green.earth/blog/what-kind-of-nature-benefits-does-bamboo-offer (29.10.2025); https://bamboou.com/5-interesting-myths-about-bamboo-debunked/

^[v] Green Earth Group, What kind of nature benefits does bamboo offer?, https://www.green.earth/blog/what-kind-of-nature-benefits-does-bamboo-offer (29.10.2025).

^[vi] Amjad, A. I. (2024). Bamboo fibre: A sustainable solution for textile manufacturing. Advances in Bamboo Science, 7, 100088. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bamboo.2024.100088; Kuok, K. K., Bin Bakri, M. K., Chan, C. P., Rahman, M. R., Namakka, M., Said, K. A. M., Yun, C. M., and Rahman, M. M. (2024). “Merits of bamboo utilization in earth preservation, water, and wastewater treatment: A mini review,” BioResources 19(2), 3921-3944.

^[vii] Gopan, G., Krishnan, R., & Arun, M. (2024). Review of bamboo biomass as a sustainable energy. International Journal of Low-Carbon Technologies, 19, 2733–2745. https://doi.org/10.1093/ijlct/ctae237

^[viii] Adier, M. F. V., Sevilla, M. E. P., Valerio, D. N. R., & Ongpeng, J. M. C. (2023). Bamboo as Sustainable Building Materials: A Systematic Review of Properties, Treatment Methods, and Standards. In Buildings (Vol. 13, Issue 10). https://doi.org/10.3390/buildings13102449; Velázquez Narváez, O., Augusto, J., Morales, S., Villanueva, D., & Falconi, C. (2022). Incentivos Financieros y Non Financieros, Mechanismos de Implementacion para Estimular el Uso y Acceso a los Mercados con Productos de Bambú en los Departamentos del Caquetá y El Meta. In INBAR (INBAR). https://riuci.cdn.prismic.io/riuci/b95d9dfc71e9-4097-a33e-%0936fbaf5d4582_2022+Incentivos+financieros+y+no+financieros+Colombia.pdf

^[ix] Eurostat (2024). Renewables account for 24.5% of EU energy use in 2023. Eurostat. https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/web/products-eurostat-news/w/ddn-20241219-3

^[x] Ang, T., Salem, M., Kamarol, M., Das, H. S., Nazari, M. A., & Prabaharan, N. (2022). A comprehensive study of renewable energy sources: Classifications, challenges and suggestions. Energy Strategy Reviews, 43, 100939. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.esr.2022.100939

[xi] International Energy Agency, Bioenergy, https://www.iea.org/energy-system/renewables/bioenergy (29.10.2025).

[xii] Awogbemi, O., & Desai. D. A. (2025). Harnessing the potentials of bamboo as a sustainable feedstock for bioenergy production. Advances in Bamboo Science, 12, 100173. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bamboo.2025.100173

^[xiii] Montaño, C. D., Zwart, R., Camargo-García, J. C., Londoño, X., & Verheggen, B. (2013). Torrefied bamboo for the import of sustainable biomass from Colombia. Energy research Centre of the Netherlands (ECN). https://www.researchgate.net/publication/278016080_Torrefied_Bamboo_for_the_Import_of_Sustainable_Biomass_from_Colombia

^[xiv] Sterman, J., Moomaw, W., Rooney-Varga, J. N., & Siegel, L. (2022). Does wood bioenergy help or harm the climate? Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, 78(3), 128–138. https://doi.org/10.1080/00963402.2022.2062933

^[xv] Nguyen, H. T. G., Lyttek, E., Lal, P., Wieczerak, T., & Luong, T. (2022). Evaluating loblolly pine bioenergy development potential using AHP integrated weighted overlay and network optimization in Virginia, USA. Trees, Forests and People, 8, 100271. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tfp.2022.100271; Johansson, T., & Karačić, A. (2011). Increment and biomass in hybrid poplar and some practical implications. Biomass and Bioenergy, 35(5), 1925–1934. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biombioe.2011.01.040

^[xvi] Bhardwaj, Rana, S., Kumar, D., & Sharma, P. (2022). Nutritive value of tender shoots of different bamboo species in relation to harvesting height in mid-hills of north-western Himalayas. Applied Food Research, 3(1), 100244. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.afres.2022.100244

^[xvii] Rathod, S., Parab, A., Tamkhane, A., Neharkar, A., Patil, A., & Gayake, P. (2022, December 11). A comparative study of bamboo reinforced vs steel reinforced concrete structure. IJRASET: International Journal for Research in Applied Science and Engineering Technology. https://doi.org/10.22214/ijraset.2022.48070

^[xviii] Isukuru, E. J., Ogunkeyede, A. O., Adebayo, A. A., & Uruejoma, M. F. (2023). Potentials of bamboo and its ecological benefits in Nigeria. Advances in Bamboo Science, 4, 100032. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bamboo.2023.100032

^[xix] Awogbemi, O., & Desai, D. A. (2025). Harnessing the potentials of bamboo as a sustainable feedstock for bioenergy production. Advances in Bamboo Science, 100173. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bamboo.2025.100173

^[xx] Xu, Q., Liang, C., Chen, J., Li, Y., Qin, H., & Fuhrmann, J. J. (2019). Rapid bamboo invasion (expansion) and its effects on biodiversity and soil processes +. Global Ecology and Conservation, 21, e00787. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gecco.2019.e00787

^[xxi] Personal communication with Juan Carlos Camargo Garcia, Professor on bamboo systems at Universidad Tecnologica de Pereira, Colombia (11 July 2025).

^[xxii] Green Earth Group, What kind of nature benefits does bamboo offer?, https://www.green.earth/blog/what-kind-of-nature-benefits-does-bamboo-offer (29.10.2025).

^[xxiii] Eifion Rees, Bamboo: can it live up to the ‘green gold’ hype?, https://theecologist.org/2011/aug/30/bamboo-can-it-live-green-gold-hype (29.10.2025).

^[xxiv] Eifion Rees, Bamboo: can it live up to the ‘green gold’ hype?, https://theecologist.org/2011/aug/30/bamboo-can-it-live-green-gold-hype (29.10.2025).;

^[xxv] Dovetail Partners, Bamboo Products and Their Environmental Impacts: Revisited, https://www.dovetailinc.org/portfoliodetail.php?id=5e2f0df258c14 (29.10.2025).

^[xxvi] Dovetail Partners, Bamboo Products and Their Environmental Impacts: Revisited, https://www.dovetailinc.org/portfoliodetail.php?id=5e2f0df258c14 (29.10.2025).

^[xxvii] Dovetail Partners, Bamboo Products and Their Environmental Impacts: Revisited, https://www.dovetailinc.org/portfoliodetail.php?id=5e2f0df258c14 (29.10.2025).

^[xxviii] Dovetail Partners, Bamboo Products and Their Environmental Impacts: Revisited, https://www.dovetailinc.org/portfoliodetail.php?id=5e2f0df258c14 (29.10.2025).

^[xxix] European Commission, Frequently Asked Questions Implementation of the EU Deforestation Regulation Version 3 – October 2024, https://share.google/r7SmjaHO6Nreo78Ye, p. 25

^[xxx] Input received from interviews with landowners in Colombia, stated in Bastiaans, T. (2025) From Bamboo to Benefits: Exploring the Leverage Points for Equitable PES Schemes in Colombia’s Eje Cafetero. Utrecht University. https://studenttheses.uu.nl/handle/20.500.12932/50628

^[xxxi] Green Earth Group, What kind of nature benefits does bamboo offer?, https://www.green.earth/blog/what-kind-of-nature-benefits-does-bamboo-offer (29.10.2025).

^[xxxii] DataIntelo. (2024). Bamboo biomass pellet power plant market research report 2033. https://dataintelo.com/report/bamboo-biomass-pellet-power-plant-study-market; Montaño, C. D., & van Dam, J. E. G. (2021). Potential of bamboo for renewable energy: Main issues and technology options. International Bamboo and Rattan Organisation (INBAR). https://www.inbar.int/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/October-2021_Potential-of-Bamboo-for-Renewable-Energy.pdf

^[xxxiii] Montaño, C. D., Zwart, R., Camargo-García, J. C., Londoño, X., & Verheggen, B. (2013). Torrefied bamboo for the import of sustainable biomass from Colombia. Energy research Centre of the Netherlands (ECN). https://www.researchgate.net/publication/278016080_Torrefied_Bamboo_for_the_Import_of_Sustainable_Biomass_from_Colombia

^[xxxiv] Dam, Jan E.G. van. 2018. “Bamboo Innovations for Sustainable Biocommodity Development.” In Global Bamboo and Rattan Congress (BARC). Beijing, China.

Indigenous beliefs and regenerative agriculture

Agriculture is deeply intertwined with Indigenous rights. This nexus is, however, often overlooked in discussions. Indigenous societies differ in many ways from Western societies, particularly in their life philosophy. A characteristic trait of many Indigenous communities is their way of seeing spirituality, politics, sustainability and economy as interconnected aspects of life. They view themselves as part of a broader web of life, coexisting with plants and animals — rather than dominating them. This holistic understanding has allowed Indigenous groups to develop extensive knowledge that supports self-sufficiency in fundamental life aspects, such as food and shelter.^[i]

In this context, it is worth noting that the term “regenerative agriculture” is currently widely used within sustainability discourses. “[R]egenerative agriculture is an ancient concept that originated with Indigenous peoples around the world more than a thousand years ago”.^[ii] By using “farming methods that enrich the land”, regenerative agriculture allows the land to “continue to provide for present and future generations”.^[iii] This approach to agriculture ties in with the common Indigenous world view of human and nature forming “a whole”.^[iv]

Many Indigenous agricultural practices “actively safeguard forests, preserving biodiversity and keeping a delicate balance essential for both the environment and their own sustenance”.^[v] One common example of this is agroforestry, where “growing crops [is done] in a way that mimics the forest and offers shade, protection, and nutrients”.^[vi] Another key example is polyculture, “where many different types of crops are grown alongside each other”.^[vii] In contrast to the common monocultures of modern Western agriculture, polycultures do not “deplet[e] the soil of nutrients” to the same degree and they mitigate “outbreaks of pests and disease”.^[viii] This also means that polycultures do not create a need for ever-more chemical fertilizers.^[ix]

What role does Indigenous knowledge play in modern agriculture?

In the agricultural sector today, many rural communities continue to rely on Indigenous knowledge to protect crops, preserve biodiversity, and enhance yields.^[x] All in all, “[t]raditional Indigenous agricultural practices can serve as an essential guide in the widespread adoption of sustainable, regenerative agriculture methods”. This can also “mitigate emissions and adapt to a rapidly-changing climate”.^[xi]

A good example of this can be seen in the context of rooibos (Aspalathus linearis), an endemic plant of South Africa’s Cape Floral Kingdom, specifically within the unique fynbos biome. For centuries, the Indigenous San and Khoi communities — the first known inhabitants of Southern Africa — have used rooibos for its known medicinal properties.^[xii] Research indicates that these communities have lived in the region for over 20 000 years and are believed to have passed their knowledge of rooibos usage to European settlers in the 17th century.^[xiii]

What are Access and Benefit Sharing agreements?

The Access and Benefit Sharing (ABS) framework, established by the 2014 Nagoya Protocol under the Convention on Biological Diversity, seeks to regulate how genetic resources are accessed and how the benefits derived from their use are shared amongst traditional knowledge holders.^[xiv] This is important because certain genetic resources — such as plant species, seeds, or microorganisms — often carry significant value for industries — such as pharmaceuticals, agriculture, and biotechnology — due to their natural unique properties. In addition, many of these resources are deeply connected to Indigenous knowledge and cultures, which have helped them to develop and maintain these resources over generations.^[xv]

Under the ABS framework, having access to genetic resources is always subject to conditions set by the provider country or community who carries the traditional knowledge. First of all, the process starts with the Prior Informed Consent (PIC) from the providers, which ensures that their rights and interests are respected before any commercial development takes place. Afterwards, the Mutually Agreed Terms (MAT) have to be developed, outlining the benefits that will be given to the providers by the users of the genetic resources. These benefits can be both monetary — such as royalties or licensing fees — as well as non-monetary — such as technology transfer, capacity building or research collaboration. Without a MAT in place, the ABS is not officially formalized.^[xvi]

Enforcing ABS on certain genetic resources helps to fight against the exploitation of Indigenous communities and helps to ensure that they are acknowledged, valued, and compensated for their highly valuable contributions.^[xvii] Acknowledgement to Indigenous communities is a crucial aspect to bear in mind, due to their importance in preserving biodiversity and their role in regenerative agriculture practices.^[xviii] This framework does, however, not only support biodiversity conservation and sustainable use of genetic resources, but it also strengthens the rights of Indigenous Peoples by granting them a voice in decisions that impact their resources and knowledge.

A success story from South Africa

South Africa’s rich biodiversity makes for a great example in the ABS context. In the province of the Western Cape, rooibos (Aspalathus linearis), an endemic plant to the unique and highly biodiverse Fynbos biome can be found. This plant, which has been used for centuries by the Indigenous groups Khoi and San as an herbal remedy, became a globally traded commodity without a proper recognition of the role Indigenous knowledge played in the discovery and use of the plant. Yet, in 2019, after years of negotiations, an ABS agreement was established between industry stakeholders and the Indigenous Khoi and San councils, who are recognised as custodians of the traditional knowledge on rooibos.^[xix] This new agreement allocates a 1.5% levy on the farm-gate price of unprocessed rooibos to benefit these two communities. This serves to acknowledge their historical contributions to the industry, which have influenced its current great success.^[xx]

This landmark agreement, the first of its kind in the world, set a precedent for integrating Indigenous rights into biodiversity-based industries, setting a path for other genetic resources that also carry unrecognized traditional knowledge.^[xxi] The rooibos example becomes a crucial blueprint in the current context where many genetic resources from biodiversity-rich countries are introduced on international markets, where they are included in pharmaceutical and cosmetics products. By ensuring ABS enforcement, communities — who have contributed to the development and usage of certain genetic resources — can benefit from the commercialization of these products, thereby creating fairer and more just industries.

Where is the room for improvement?

Despite the apparent positive outcomes of the ABS agreements, challenges still remain in fully showcasing the potential of ABS. As mentioned before, while the agreement includes monetary benefits, non-monetary benefits which can be difficult to quantify are still not fully factored in. Benefits — such as capacity building, social acknowledgement to lift up Indigenous proudness, and employment opportunities — still remain untouched and structural inequities in the rooibos industry persist.^[xxii] Many of these inequities are also linked to South Africa’s legacy of having an apartheid political system. Overcoming these stark challenges is, therefore, strongly linked to and discussed in the current South African political agenda.

Some scholars argue that rather than redistributing power, ABS agreements risk legitimizing pre-existing inequalities by failing to challenge deeper structural injustices rooted in the industry and the country’s complex history of having an apartheid system.^[xxiii] Nonetheless, valuable lessons can be drawn from this case study. The rooibos example highlights the need for stronger enforcement mechanisms, which seek to actually challenge deeper structural injustices. Examples of solutions include increasing transparency in benefit distribution and ensuring the active participation of Indigenous communities in decision-making processes. This, in turn, can lead to processes of co-creation and co-design, which are known to be more inclusive and effective to preserve Indigenous rights.^[xxiv]

What role can Access and Benefit Sharing agreements play?

The rooibos ABS model offers valuable insights for other genetic resources that are now entering international markets. By recognizing and valuing traditional knowledge, ABS agreements can help ensure that local and Indigenous communities benefit meaningfully from the commercialization of these resources. This not only promotes a fairer distribution of benefits but also supports the sustainable use of biodiversity.

Businesses have a critical role to play by adopting ethical sourcing practices, engaging in fair trade initiatives, and supporting community-led governance models.^[xxv] Companies that rely on imported genetic resources can promote equitable benefit-sharing by prioritizing products with ABS agreements in place. Even when formal ABS mechanisms are not enforced, businesses can still acknowledge the contributions of traditional knowledge holders through transparent and respectful marketing practices. In doing so, ABS becomes not just a legal tool, but a pathway towards more justice, inclusion, and sustainability in global value chains.

Ways forward for companies and Indigenous Peoples

Today, descendants of Indigenous communities continue to live in Southern Africa. Yet, many questions remain unanswered: Has the success of rooibos tea benefited the descendants of the Indigenous Peoples who first cultivated and used the plant? Have their knowledge and contributions been acknowledged and fairly compensated? And more broadly, how can businesses ensure that Indigenous and community rights are safeguarded in agricultural practices?

In this context, the use of legal measures — such as ABS agreements — is worth exploring. Being familiar with the implementation of ABS agreements and their provision of monetary and non-monetary agreements to Indigenous communities can provide options to companies.

Other ways of empowering Indigenous communities are also worth exploring. Examples of this entail including Indigenous representatives in decision-making roles within the company or industry organizations. Another possible alternative is to highlight the contributions of Indigenous communities in marketing and storytelling, while ensuring the communities are represented authentically and respectfully.

Explore our new app to learn more about the just transition and Indigenous Peoples’ right. The next newsletter will explore the use of bamboo for producing bioenergy. If you want to be notified when it comes out, please subscribe below.

About the authors

Aniol Gironès López is a geographer, who specializes in social justice and sustainability. He originally studied human geography at the University of Barcelona, and he is now pursuing an MSc in Sustainable Development at Utrecht University. Aniol’s current research examines the permitting system for wild-harvesting honeybush tea and its impact on marginalized communities in South Africa. In the past, Aniol collaborated with Palsa & Pulk to develop an interactive tool on the lifecycles of EV batteries.

Christine Nikander is the founder of the environmental and social sustainability consultancy, Palsa & Pulk. She frequently speaks and writes about the environmental and human rights issues that arise through global supply chains, the energy transition, and the mining of critical raw minerals. Christine studied law at the universities of Columbia (New York), Edinburgh (Scotland), and Leiden (the Netherlands). She has been writing The E-Waste Column weekly since 2022.

About Palsa & Pulk

Palsa & Pulk is an environmental and social sustainability consultancy. It provides compliance, governance, policy, and strategic advice to its clients. The consultancy’s work is mostly focused on supply chain governance, the just transition, circular economy, and human rights.

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^[i] P. Velasco-Herrejón, T. Bauwens, and M. Calisto Friant, «Challenging dominant sustainability worldviews on the energy transition: Lessons from Indigenous communities in Mexico and a plea for pluriversal technologies», World Dev., vol. 150, p. 105725, Feb. 2022, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.worlddev.2021.105725.

^[ii] Rainforest Alliance, The Indigenous Roots of Regenerative Agriculture. https://www.rainforest-alliance.org/insights/the-indigenous-roots-of-regenerative-agriculture/ (30.06.2025).

^[iii] Rainforest Alliance, The Indigenous Roots of Regenerative Agriculture. https://www.rainforest-alliance.org/insights/the-indigenous-roots-of-regenerative-agriculture/ (30.06.2025).

^[iv] Rainforest Alliance, The Indigenous Roots of Regenerative Agriculture. https://www.rainforest-alliance.org/insights/the-indigenous-roots-of-regenerative-agriculture/ (30.06.2025).

^[v] Rainforest Alliance, The Indigenous Roots of Regenerative Agriculture. https://www.rainforest-alliance.org/insights/the-indigenous-roots-of-regenerative-agriculture/ (30.06.2025).

^[vi] Rainforest Alliance, The Indigenous Roots of Regenerative Agriculture. https://www.rainforest-alliance.org/insights/the-indigenous-roots-of-regenerative-agriculture/ (30.06.2025).

^[vii] Rainforest Alliance, The Indigenous Roots of Regenerative Agriculture. https://www.rainforest-alliance.org/insights/the-indigenous-roots-of-regenerative-agriculture/ (30.06.2025).

^[viii] Rainforest Alliance, The Indigenous Roots of Regenerative Agriculture. https://www.rainforest-alliance.org/insights/the-indigenous-roots-of-regenerative-agriculture/ (30.06.2025).

^[ix] Rainforest Alliance, The Indigenous Roots of Regenerative Agriculture. https://www.rainforest-alliance.org/insights/the-indigenous-roots-of-regenerative-agriculture/ (30.06.2025).

^[x] O. L. Malapane, W. Musakwa, y N. Chanza, «Indigenous agricultural practices employed by the Vhavenda community in the Musina local municipality to promote sustainable environmental management», Heliyon, vol. 10, n.^o 13, p. e33713, Jul. 2024, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.heliyon.2024.e33713.

^[xi] Georgia Wluka, Growing Stronger: The Sustainable Roots of Indigenous Agriculture. https://www.eesi.org/articles/view/the-sustainable-roots-of-indigenous-agriculture (30.06.2025).

^[xii] D. McDonald, «Tea industry urged to share benefits with Khoi, San», Fin24, May 2015, https://www.fin24.com/Companies/Agribusiness/Tea-industry-urged-to-share-benefits-with-Khoi-San-20150522.

^[xiii] S. Ives, «Farming the South African “Bush”: Ecologies of belonging and exclusion in rooibos tea», Am. Ethnol., vol. 41, n.^o 4, pp. 698-713, Nov. 2014, https://doi.org/10.1111/amet.12106.

^[xiv] Crouch, Neil R., Douwes, Errol, Wolfson, Maureen M., Smith, Gideon F., and Edwards, Trevor J.. (2008). South Africa’s bioprospecting, access and benefit-sharing legislation: current realities, future complications, and a proposed alternative. South African Journal of Science, 104(9-10), 355-366, http://www.scielo.org.za/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0038-23532008000500009&lng=en&tlng=en.

^[xv] Fredriksson, M. (2020). Dilemmas of protection: decolonising the regulation of genetic resources as cultural heritage. International Journal of Heritage Studies, 27(7), 720–733, https://doi.org/10.1080/13527258.2020.1852295.

^[xvi] Swiss Academy of Sciences, Agreement on Access and Benefit Sharing for Non-Commercial Research: Sector specific approach containing Model Clauses, https://www.cbd.int/abs/doc/model-clauses/noncommresearch-abs-agreement.pdf (30.06.2025).

^[xvii] ABS Biotrade: General Information (2022), https://www.abs-biotrade.info/projects/abs-capacity-development/general-information/.

^[xviii] Rainforest Alliance, The Indigenous Roots of Regenerative Agriculture, https://www.rainforest-alliance.org/insights/the-indigenous-roots-of-regenerative-agriculture/ (30.06.2025).

^[xix] D. Schroeder, R. Chennells, C. Louw, L. Snyders, and T. Hodges, «The Rooibos Benefit Sharing Agreement–Breaking New Ground with Respect, Honesty, Fairness, and Care», Camb. Q. Healthc. Ethics, vol. 29, n.^o 2, pp. 285-301, Apr. 2020, https://doi.org/10.1017/s0963180119001075.

^[xx] «Global lessons from South Africa’s rooibos compensation agreement», Nature, vol. 575, n.^o 7782, pp. 258-258, Nov. 2019, https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-019-03488-2.

^[xxi] R. Wynberg, «Making sense of access and benefit sharing in the rooibos industry: towards a holistic, just and sustainable framing», South Afr. J. Bot., vol. 110, pp. 39-51, 2017, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sajb.2016.09.015.

^[xxii] R. Wynberg, «One step forward, two steps back: implementing access and benefit-sharing legislation in South Africa», Routledge Handb. Biodivers. Law, p. 421, 2017.

^[xxiii] S. F. Ives, Steeped in Heritage: The Racial Politics of South African Rooibos Tea. Duke University Press, 2017. R. Wynberg, «One step forward, two steps back: implementing access and benefit-sharing legislation in South Africa», Routledge Handb. Biodivers. Law, p. 421, 2017.

^[xxiv] D. Schroeder, R. Chennells, C. Louw, L. Snyders, and T. Hodges, «The Rooibos Benefit Sharing Agreement–Breaking New Ground with Respect, Honesty, Fairness, and Care», Camb. Q. Healthc. Ethics, vol. 29, n.^o 2, pp. 285-301, Apr. 2020, https://doi.org/10.1017/s0963180119001075.

^[xxv] M. Adelfang, «Creating a biotrade sector organisation», ABioSA GUIDE, https://www.abs-biotrade.info/fileadmin/Downloads/1.%20PROJECTS/ABioSA/Repository/ABioSA-guide-biotrade-sector-organisation-2021.pdf.

Indigenous communities as guardians of biodiversity

Indigenous Peoples “depend heavily on forest ecosystems”,^[i] which are often destroyed to make space for agricultural activities. According to the UN, “Indigenous communities […] help to maintain 80% of the biodiversity left […], and [maintain] some of the world’s most valuable carbon sinks and natural resources”.^[ii] Moreover, “[t]he forests of the indigenous and tribal peoples’ territories store about 34,000 million metric tonnes of carbon”. In line with this, the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples ensures Indigenous Peoples “public access to forest management documents and other relevant information”.^[iii]

Moreover, the New York Declaration on Forests “endorses a global timeline to cut natural forest loss in half by 2020 and to strive to end it by 2030”.^[iv] The non-legally binding political declaration “was endorsed by dozens of governments, many of the world’s biggest companies, and influential civil society and indigenous peoples’ organisations”.^[v] It calls “on the private sector to meet the goal of eliminating deforestation from the production of agricultural commodities such as palm oil, soy, paper and beef products by no later than 2020”.^[vi] This goal was not, however, achieved.^[vii]

There still continues to be significant biodiversity loss caused by agriculture. Researchers from the Technical University of Munich and the ETH Zurich recently showed that “[e]xporting agricultural products from tropical regions to China, the USA, the Middle East, and Europe is three times more harmful to biodiversity than previously assumed”. The research also showed that “Brazil, Indonesia, Mexico, and Madagascar are particularly affected by species loss”.^[viii]

Threats to Indigenous lands through industrial development

Overall, “[i]ndustrial development threatens nearly 60% of Indigenous Peoples’ lands in 64 countries”.^[ix] As of 2018, Indigenous communities managed over a quarter of the world’s land surface, with around 40% of this land located within the planet’s protected areas, which encompass 80% of global biodiversity.^[x] This highlights the crucial role Indigenous communities play in conserving unique ecosystems all around the globe. However, issues arise due to the vulnerability of these lands to industrial expansion because of weak enforcement of land rights and their location in highly agricultural productive and fertile regions.^[xi] This can be understood as the result of many Indigenous territories lacking strong legal protections, making it easier for industries to encroach upon them for agriculture, mining, and also infrastructure projects.^[xii]

In the current context of declining soil health and quality, partly due to unsustainable agricultural practices, the agricultural industry is increasingly seeking new fertile lands for cultivation to meet the demand for food. This affects both biodiversity and Indigenous Peoples’ rights. For example, cattle farming and extensive land use in Brazil has effects on Indigenous communities. Similarly, palm oil farming and extensive land use in the Amazon forest also has effects on Indigenous communities and their rights. In Brazil, cattle ranching has been the main driver of Amazon deforestation, accounting for 80% of forest loss.^[xiii] Policies such as tax incentives for pasture expansion and weak land tenure enforcement have encouraged large-scale land conversion, often through illegal means.^[xiv] As a result, Indigenous communities face displacement, loss of traditional territories, and restricted access to vital resources, further exacerbating social and environmental inequalities.

Land-grabbing of Indigenous lands across centuries

The “land-grabbing” of Indigenous lands has occurred on a large scale across centuries.^[xv] Large areas of land in the Global South were seized by European authorities in the 15th and 20th centuries. Notably, “many of these “land grabs” were never reversed” during the decolonization process. In practice, this means that “much of the formerly communal land passed straight into the hands of newly created countries, particularly in parts of Africa and Asia”.^[xvi]

Over the past few years, the global recognition of traditional ownership has grown. In line with this, from 2015 to 2020, “103m hectares of communal lands in 73 countries were given legal status, according to analysis by the Rights and Resources Initiative, a global coalition of groups that advocates for the rights of Indigenous peoples and local communities”.^[xvii]

Despite this, land grabbing continues to be a problem today. In Peru, for example, 3 million hectares of forest “changed hands” in 2003. Much of this land was used for palm oil and cacao plantations.^[xviii] Similarly, the Aurora Pacific Economic Zone and Freeport (APECO) project in the Philippines has stripped people “from the land, livelihoods and ancestral ties that they have cultivated for generations, […] threatening massive environmental damage”.^[xix]

Controversies around Indigenous land rights

The EU’s Regulation on Deforestation-free Products (EUDR) plays a role in protecting the land rights of Indigenous Peoples. It aims to ensure that commodities that can be linked to deforestation in earlier stages of their supply chain do not enter the EU market. By doing this, Indigenous territories are indirectly safeguarded from harmful land use practices.^[xx]

Most countries also have laws that determine whether Indigenous lands are protected or not. For example, in Brazil, the law foresees that Indigenous lands should be protected when they have been officially recognized and demarcated by the government, ensuring legal recognition of territorial rights.^[xxi] More specifically, the marco temporal bill in Brazil is “a piece of legislation passed by the agribusiness caucus in parliament”. It “set a cutoff date for establishing Indigenous territories: under the legislation, only claimant communities who can prove they occupied their territories in 1988, when Brazil’s Constitution was approved, can go through the demarcation process.” It was “ruled unconstitutional by the Supreme Court in 2023”. Yet, nonetheless “the legislation was approved by parliament” shortly afterwards.^[xxii]

The Brazilian government recently approved 13 new Indigenous territories. The Xukuru-Kariri Indigenous Territory, home to the Xukuru-Kariri people, in Alagoas state, in Brazil’s northeast has not yet been approved.^[xxiii] The approval of these new Indigenous territories was made possible by the marco temporal bill; however, it has faced criticism for the lengthy process the government took to recognize these territories. In addition, the marco temporal bill has generated significant controversy, as it limits the recognition of Indigenous land rights to territories that can prove continuous occupation since the 1988 Constitution, excluding many communities that have been displaced before that time.^[xxiv]

How can companies protect Indigenous rights throughout agricultural supply chains?

There are several steps companies can take to address the impacts agricultural practices have on Indigenous rights. On a practical level, companies could support sustainable practices by, for example, investing in sustainable harvesting techniques that benefit Indigenous communities while conserving biodiversity. In line with this, the EUDR also highlights that Indigenous Peoples may need “additional support for the transition towards sustainable supply chains”.^[xxv]

Setting up solid due diligence practices, as well as honoring stakeholder engagement and Free, Prior and Informed Consent (FPIC), are key examples of steps companies can take within supply chains. It is also possible to use codes of conduct, contractual obligations, and other third-party policies to create positive change.

It is notably possible for companies to protect human and Indigenous rights throughout their agricultural operations and supply chains without creating huge additional costs. In this context, it is worth noting that the costs of complying with the EUDR are very limited for companies. Notably, a new study by Profundo found that EUDR compliance costs “on average 0.10% as percentage of annual revenues for large companies and SMEs”. In practice, this means that “[i]f companies were to pass on these costs in their supply chains, the potential impact on consumer prices would be even smaller, between 0.001% and 0.07%”.^[xxvi]

Overall, there is a need for the general public to better recognize the contributions of Indigenous communities within agriculture and the protection of biodiversity. This is something companies could — for example — highlight in their marketing and storytelling, so long as they always ensure that the Indigenous communities are represented authentically and respectfully. In line with this, the EUDR, for example, aims to “acknowledg[e] and strength[en] the role and rights of indigenous peoples”.^[xxvii]

To truly build a more sustainable and inclusive future, companies should also take steps to empower Indigenous communities. One way of doing this is by including Indigenous representatives in their internal decision-making processes or giving them roles in industry organizations. This is also in line with the objectives of the EUDR, which sets out that “[p]artnerships and cooperation shall allow full participation of all stakeholders, including […] indigenous people”.^[xxviii] The EUDR also says that “[p]artnerships and cooperation shall promote the development of integrated land use planning process” to “strengthen the rights of forest- dependent communities, including smallholders, local communities, and indigenous peoples”.^[xxix]

The next newsletter will explore how access and benefit sharing frameworks can help to uphold Indigenous and community rights. If you want to be notified when it comes out, please subscribe below.

About the authors

Aniol Gironès López is a geographer, who specializes in social justice and sustainability. He originally studied human geography at the University of Barcelona, and he is now pursuing an MSc in Sustainable Development at Utrecht University. Aniol’s current research examines the permitting system for wild-harvesting honeybush tea and its impact on marginalized communities in South Africa. In the past, Aniol collaborated with Palsa & Pulk to develop an interactive tool on the lifecycles of EV batteries.

Christine Nikander is the founder of the environmental and social sustainability consultancy, Palsa & Pulk. She frequently speaks and writes about the environmental and human rights issues that arise through global supply chains, the energy transition, and the mining of critical raw minerals. Christine studied law at the universities of Columbia (New York), Edinburgh (Scotland), and Leiden (the Netherlands). She has been writing The E-Waste Column weekly since 2022.

About Palsa & Pulk

Palsa & Pulk is an environmental and social sustainability consultancy. It provides compliance, governance, policy, and strategic advice to its clients. The consultancy’s work is mostly focused on supply chain governance, the just transition, circular economy, and human rights.

Stay up to date

Our monthly newsletter is published here on Substack, on LinkedIn, and on our blog. Subscribe to be notified when our newsletters are published.

^[i] Regulation (EU) 2023/1115 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 31 May 2023 on the making available on the Union market and the export from the Union of certain commodities and products associated with deforestation and forest degradation and repealing Regulation (EU) No 995/2010, https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/PDF/?uri=CELEX:32023R1115.

^[ii] Adam Morton, Evidence grows of forced labour and slavery in production of solar panels, wind turbines. https://amp-theguardian-com.cdn.ampproject.org/c/s/amp.theguardian.com/environment/2022/nov/29/evidence-grows-of-forced-labour-and-slavery-in-production-of-solar-panels-wind-turbines (05.11.2024); Molly Taft, Over Half the World’s Energy Transition Minerals Are on Indigenous Lands. https://gizmodo.com/over-half-the-worlds-energy-transition-minerals-are-on-1849865104 (05.11.2024); European Federation for Transport and Environment, How Europe can improve the way global extractive companies do business. https://www.transportenvironment.org/discover/how-europe-can-improve-the-way-global-extractive-companies-do-business/ (05.11.2024).

^[iii] Regulation (EU) 2023/1115 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 31 May 2023 on the making available on the Union market and the export from the Union of certain commodities and products associated with deforestation and forest degradation and repealing Regulation (EU) No 995/2010, https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/PDF/?uri=CELEX:32023R1115.

^[iv] Regulation (EU) 2023/1115 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 31 May 2023 on the making available on the Union market and the export from the Union of certain commodities and products associated with deforestation and forest degradation and repealing Regulation (EU) No 995/2010, https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/PDF/?uri=CELEX:32023R1115.

^[v] Regulation (EU) 2023/1115 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 31 May 2023 on the making available on the Union market and the export from the Union of certain commodities and products associated with deforestation and forest degradation and repealing Regulation (EU) No 995/2010, https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/PDF/?uri=CELEX:32023R1115.

^[vi] Regulation (EU) 2023/1115 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 31 May 2023 on the making available on the Union market and the export from the Union of certain commodities and products associated with deforestation and forest degradation and repealing Regulation (EU) No 995/2010, https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/PDF/?uri=CELEX:32023R1115.

^[vii] Regulation (EU) 2023/1115 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 31 May 2023 on the making available on the Union market and the export from the Union of certain commodities and products associated with deforestation and forest degradation and repealing Regulation (EU) No 995/2010, https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/PDF/?uri=CELEX:32023R1115.

^[viii] Technical University of Munich, Biodiversity loss due to agricultural trade three times higher than thought. https://www.tum.de/en/news-and-events/all-news/press-releases/details/biodiversity-loss-due-to-agricultural-trade-three-times-higher-than-thought (30.05.2025); Livia Cabernard et al., Biodiversity impacts of recent land-use change driven by increases in agri-food imports. Nat Sustain 7 (2024). doi.org/10.1038/s41893-024-01433-4.

^[ix] Christina M. Kennedy et al., Indigenous Peoples’ lands are threatened by industrial development; conversion risk assessment reveals need to support Indigenous stewardship. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2590332223003408 (30.06.2025).

^[x] Stephen T. Garnett et al., A spatial overview of the global importance of Indigenous lands for conservation, https://www.nature.com/articles/s41893-018-0100-6 (30.06.2025).

^[xi] Ariel BenYishay et al., Indigenous land rights and deforestation: Evidence from the Brazilian Amazon, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jeem.2017.07.008 (30.06.2025).

^[xii] Jacobo Ramirez et al., Conflicting injustices in decolonization and indigenous land rights: The case of the Lake Turkana Wind Power project. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.erss.2024.103912 (30.06.2025).

^[xiii] Petterson Vale et al., The Expansion of Intensive Beef Farming to the Brazilian Amazon. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gloenvcha.2019.05.006 (30.06.2025).

^[xiv] Philip M. Fearnside, Biodiversity as an environmental service in Brazil's Amazonian forests: risks, value and conservation. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0376892999000429 (30.06.2025).

^[xv] Christina M. Kennedy et al., Indigenous Peoples’ lands are threatened by industrial development; conversion risk assessment reveals need to support Indigenous stewardship. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2590332223003408 (30.06.2025).

^[xvi] Josh Gabbatiss, Loggers have ‘grabbed’ around 1m hectares of Indigenous land in DRC. https://www.carbonbrief.org/loggers-have-grabbed-around-1m-hectares-of-indigenous-land-in-drc/ (30.06.2025).

^[xvii] Josh Gabbatiss, Loggers have ‘grabbed’ around 1m hectares of Indigenous land in DRC. https://www.carbonbrief.org/loggers-have-grabbed-around-1m-hectares-of-indigenous-land-in-drc/ (30.06.2025).

^[xviii] Transparency International, Defending land and lives: Indigenous peoples fighting back against discriminatory corruption. https://www.transparency.org/en/blog/indigenous-world-day-corruption-discrimination-peru-guatemala (30.06.2025).

^[xix] Transparency International, Defending land and lives: Indigenous peoples fighting back against discriminatory corruption. https://www.transparency.org/en/blog/indigenous-world-day-corruption-discrimination-peru-guatemala (30.06.2025).

^[xx] European Commission, Implementation of the EU Deforestation Regulation: Find out how to comply with EUDR. https://green-business.ec.europa.eu/deforestation-regulation-implementation_en (30.06.2025).

^[xxi] International Work Group for Indigenous Affairs, Indigenous peoples in Brazil. https://iwgia.org/en/brazil.html (30.06.2025).

^[xxii] Fernanda Wenzel, Brazil’s Lula approves 13 Indigenous lands after much delay, promises more to come. https://news.mongabay.com/2024/12/brazils-lula-approves-13-indigenous-lands-after-much-delay-promises-more-to-come/ (30.06.2025).

^[xxiii] Fernanda Wenzel, Brazil’s Lula approves 13 Indigenous lands after much delay, promises more to come. https://news.mongabay.com/2024/12/brazils-lula-approves-13-indigenous-lands-after-much-delay-promises-more-to-come/ (30.06.2025).

^[xxiv] Ana Carolina Alfinito and Ester Oliveira, Indigenous Rights Battle Resumes in Brazilian Supreme Court. https://amazonwatch.org/news/2024/0118-indigenous-rights-battle-resumes-in-brazilian-supreme-court (30.06.2025).

^[xxv] Regulation (EU) 2023/1115 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 31 May 2023 on the making available on the Union market and the export from the Union of certain commodities and products associated with deforestation and forest degradation and repealing Regulation (EU) No 995/2010, https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/PDF/?uri=CELEX:32023R1115.

^[xxvi] Gerard Rijk and Barbara Kuepper, Analysis of EUDR compliance costs. https://profundo.nl/projects/analysis-of-eudr-compliance-costs-/ (30.05.2025).

^[xxvii] Regulation (EU) 2023/1115 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 31 May 2023 on the making available on the Union market and the export from the Union of certain commodities and products associated with deforestation and forest degradation and repealing Regulation (EU) No 995/2010, https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/PDF/?uri=CELEX:32023R1115.

^[xxviii] Regulation (EU) 2023/1115 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 31 May 2023 on the making available on the Union market and the export from the Union of certain commodities and products associated with deforestation and forest degradation and repealing Regulation (EU) No 995/2010, https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/PDF/?uri=CELEX:32023R1115.

^[xxix] Regulation (EU) 2023/1115 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 31 May 2023 on the making available on the Union market and the export from the Union of certain commodities and products associated with deforestation and forest degradation and repealing Regulation (EU) No 995/2010, https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/PDF/?uri=CELEX:32023R1115.

Why is it important to protect soils?

Agriculture plays a major role in biodiversity.[i] It is estimated that 40% of our planet’s population is affected by the degradation of land and soil.[ii] Soil degradation can be caused by the loss of organic matter, a decline in fertility, erosion, changes in salinity, acidity, or alkalinity, or through the supply of toxic chemicals or pollutants. In addition, flooding can degrade soil, because many species that live in the soil might drown. It also influences the mycelium in the ground. This is particularly relevant as mycelium or fungi are known to bring nutrients into the soil. They can add nutrients to the soil by mining stones for minerals or by decomposing organic matter.[iii]

Soil microorganisms are affected by temperature, moisture, and acidity.[iv] “Soil biodiversity contributes to ecosystem services such as nutrient cycling, water filtration, pest control, carbon storage, and soil stabilization, all important for human well-being.”[v]

Natural plants and crops rely on a functional soil biodiversity, but agricultural activities can alter the structure of the soil.[vi] Certain crops might not grow if the soil is too alkaline or too acidic, if the soil is too wet or too dry, or too warm or too cold – or simply because the crops used up all the nutrients.[vii]

Fertilizer use in agriculture

To counter the loss of nutrients in the ground, it is common for modern agriculture to use fertilizers. Statistical estimates show that the amount of inorganic fertilizer use per hectare of agriculturally used land can be linked significantly to decreasing biodiversity.[viii] Nutrient pollution changes the composition of plant communities, not only on the arable land itself, but also on the wild plant parcels and in the marginal strips where remnants of natural vegetation still exist.[ix]

Fertilizers do not stay on the agricultural land where they are originally deployed. Synthetic fertilizers are a significant cause of extreme algae growth, oxygen deficiency, and therefore also fish deaths in water bodies. The more industrial agriculture becomes, the more fertilizer ends up in topsoil, neighboring areas of agricultural land, and in the water system.[x]

Besides the seemingly invisible chemical pollutants, there are also more visible sources of soil pollution. We find plastic everywhere. Despite all the discussions about microplastics, fertilizers are also being coated in plastic layers to prolong their effect. As a result, plastic accumulates in agricultural land. The soil cannot keep hold of all of this plastic – and so, the plastic ends up in the water. Then marine animals absorb it, eat it, or get caught in larger pieces, which results in their death and therefore changes the biodiversity.[xi]

Soil salinization through agriculture

Soil salinization is the accumulation of salts (especially calcium and sodium) in the upper layers of the soil, the so-called topsoil. This results in the reduction of soil fertility and the damaging of plant roots.[xii] Due to the extremization of climate, caused by climate change and excessive use of fertilizers, soil salinization in agriculture is increasing.[xiii] Notably, increases in soil salination combined with climate change can also cause typically helpful bacteria in the root microbiome of plants to become a threat and hinder the growth of the plants.[xiv]

Low precipitation either by rain or irrigation, or alternatively a high evaporation rate, causes salt to reach the soil surface. This, in turn, decreases the growth of plants or makes it impossible for them to grow. Therefore, especially in warm and dry regions, the soil should not be exposed to too much sun.[xv] With rising sea levels, coastal regions are also facing salinization. Examples of this include the Mekong Delta in Vietnam, the Po area in Italy, the Nile Delta in Africa, and the Mississippi Delta in America. The salinization of deltas has impacts on the production of rice and many other crops.[xvi]

To address the challenges caused by soil salinization, multi-faceted approaches are required. Sustainable water management is necessary in order not to lower ground water levels, to harvest rainwater, to use fertilizers wisely, and to install well-functioning drainage systems. In addition, salt-tolerant crops have been found and can be grown to help ensure food security globally.[xvii]

Why are insects important in agriculture?

Many plants need insects for pollination.[xviii] Some birds, bats, or other animals can be pollinators too – but most pollinators are insects.[xix] Approximately 35% of the earth’s food crops depend in one way or the other on pollinators.[xx] It is assumed that without pollinators, 75% of our crops would vanish. Pollinators are however disappearing, due to the use of pesticides and other chemicals, habitat loss, parasites, and diseases.[xxi] At the moment, about 40% of insect species globally are threatened to die out.[xxii]

While humans rely on many fruits and vegetables for a healthy diet, there are still other products made by insects that have been used by humans already for centuries. Examples of this include beeswax, silk, and honey.[xxiii] Moreover, the products of insects can also play an important role in medicine. Bee venom can, for example, be used to treat certain types of cancer.[xxiv]

Beyond this, insects can help keep pests away from our cultivated plants by being predators to these pests. In addition, some insects are decomposers and help dead animals and plants to decompose fast.[xxv] On the other hand, insects can be pests too. Over time, intensive agricultural practices have selected a rather small variety of plants or crops to grow in large-scale monocultures, providing the perfect habitat for herbivorous insects. This results in the mass reproduction of these insects. Worldwide, these insects damage 18% of agricultural production.[xxvi]

Pesticide & chemical use in agriculture

To counter pests, pesticides are widely used in modern agriculture. Yet, many pesticides are not specifically created to kill a certain pest. Instead, they kill many plants and animals alike, although these might be crucial for the ecosystem in a specific area. Moreover, it is estimated that 40% of the decline of insects worldwide is caused by chemicals. As a result, 30% of insects globally are now endangered.[xxvii]

About 25% of pesticides applied in agriculture drift away from the place where they are used. They can drift hundreds and even thousands of kilometers through the air depending on wind speed, humidity, and temperature. Eventually, they can end up on soil which is not used by agriculture and harm all kinds of organisms – like plants, insects, or fungi. It is estimated that pesticides are linked to the reduction of more than 50% of wild plants that are closer than 500 meters to the agricultural area where the pesticides were applied. Overall, pesticides have an enormous impact on biodiversity because the number of flowers for pollinators is reduced.[xxviii]

Different airborne pesticides can mix. These mixtures might have an even more significant effect on wildlife than a single pesticide would. Yet, these mixtures are difficult to investigate.[xxix] In addition, many pesticides also contain per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), which almost never decompose.[xxx] Beyond this, still other chemicals get into nature – like heavy metals from mining or the galvanic industry.[xxxi]

On the one hand, pesticides can be considered a necessary evil, because without them our current global agricultural production would be impossible. On the other hand, there is a need to reduce pesticides because of their negative impact on biodiversity.[xxxii]

Pollution through PFAS

The impact of chemicals on nature depends on the chemical itself, its concentration, the time span of exposure, and the vulnerability of the affected species. Yet, humans invent new chemicals very speedily, often without the environmental impact studies always keeping up with the heavy impacts these have on nature.[xxxiii] An example of this includes the introduction of PFAS.

Due to their properties, PFAS are used in numerous consumer products – such as cosmetics, cookware, paper coatings, textiles, or ski waxes. They are used for the surface treatment of metals and plastics, in crop protection products, and fire extinguishing agents. They are fairly commonly found in outdoor clothing, shoes, workwear, carpets, home textiles, water- and grease-repellent paper products, electroplating, refrigerators, propellants, and menstrual products.[xxxiv] Moreover, you can also find them in the embedding layer on the back sheet of solar cells as EVA (polyethylene vinyl acetate).[xxxv]

PFAS are organic compounds of various chain lengths, in which the hydrogen atoms are replaced by fluorine atoms. Many PFAS are emitted in the air by industrial plants. In the air, they can travel far. Eventually, they, however, come down with the rain and end up in the soil and the water system. Since PFAS do not decompose, they accumulate in the food chain. As they are water-soluble, they also reach the groundwater. Moreover, PFAS enter sewage treatment plants via commercial and domestic wastewater. As a result, they end up in our surface water and the oceans. They are also found in sewage slug in agriculture areas, because this is still used as fertilizer in some countries. From there, they can reach the groundwater.[xxxvi]

“A major concern with PFAS, also dubbed ‘forever chemicals’, is that they accumulate in the liver and kidney and persist in serum.”[xxxvii] Since blood, liver, kidney, and lungs of mammals, including humans, are affected by PFAS, for example by causing cancer, the lifespan of these creatures can be shortened and therefore affect the biodiversity in areas with high PFAS contamination.[xxxviii] According to current knowledge of the European Food Safety Authority, animal foods in particular are considered to be contaminated with PFAS.[xxxix]

High concentrations of PFAS can be found in the liver of wild boars in some regions in Germany. Therefore, the liver can be used as a bioindicator to show how high PFAS contamination is on site. The wild boar is an omnivore, meaning that it also eats mice, frogs, snails, and worms. These animals are themselves contaminated. In addition, wild boars dig in the soil a lot and therefore also indirectly absorb PFAS.[xl]

It is estimated that there are more than 10 000 different substances that belong to the PFAS group. The Directive (EU) 2020/2184 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 16 December 2020 on the quality of water intended for human consumption regulates some types of PFAS, but not all of them.[xli]

Deforestation through agriculture

More than 25% of the terrestrial surface of our planet is used for cultivation.[xlii] “The food we eat causes one third of all greenhouse gas emissions, as forests are cleared at an ever-growing rate to make way for new cattle pastures, soy fields, cocoa farms and oil palm plantations.”[xliii] Moreover, “[e]stimates show agriculture drives over 90% of tropical deforestation”.[xliv] “[D]eforestation and land use change, in turn, accounts for 11% of global carbon emissions”.[xlv] On a more local level, in the “richly forested Brazil, the share of national emissions from land use change is 46%”.[xlvi]

Deforestation risks are notably not distributed equally.[xlvii] In many tropical regions, forests are cut down to create cultivated areas. From 1995 to 2022, this change of land use has caused species loss – especially in Brazil, Indonesia, Mexico, and Madagascar. Crops and cattle are cultivated or raised for export – mainly to China, the USA, the Middle East, and Europe. In Madagascar and Brazil, the forests are mainly cut down for livestock grazing. In Indonesia, this is done for oil seeds – like palm oil – and in Mexico for fruits, vegetables, and nuts.[xlviii]

Previously, it had been estimated that the change of land use in tropical regions would cause a loss of 20 to 30% of biodiversity, but new studies from the Technical University of Munich and the ETH Zurich show, that the loss is more than 90%.[xlix] “Of a total of around 2,400 soy-producing municipalities, only 569 together accounted for 99% of Brazil's soy deforestation in 2020.”[l] In temperate climates, the change of land use has a smaller effect on species loss. Consequently, the loss of biodiversity should be seen on a global scale.[li]

“The climate crisis […] cannot be resolved without tackling international commodity supply chains.”[lii] Yet, in the European Union, the proposal and introduction of the regulation on deforestation-free products caused a lot of discussions – and this although the costs of compliance are negligible. Compliance with the regulation is estimated to have impacted consumer prices by between 0.001% and 0.07%.[liii] To contextualize this, the biodiversity loss in the tropical regions might have an enormous financial effect on large areas – such as China, the USA, the Middle East, and Europe. Financial damage through climate change may be caused through appearances like floods, droughts, and – in consequence – calamities. Moreover, with the loss of biodiversity, there might be a loss of species, which are important for our nutrition and health in the long term.[liv]

What change is needed in companies’ agricultural practices?

Up to 39% of habitable land is currently used for livestock farming for meat and dairy production.[lv] Cocoa, coffee, natural rubber, palm oil, rubber, soy and timber are other commodities that are remarkable drivers of biodiversity loss.[lvi] The agricultural sector is in an urgent need for change, as it is estimated that the expansion of agricultural lands account for nearly 90% of global deforestation.[lvii] Moreover, according to the World Economic Forum, 60% of the world’s species have died out since 1970. To stop this trend, pesticides have to be reduced, habitat loss has to be diminished, and farming has to be diversified – just to mention some measures that can be taken by companies and other private actors.[lviii]

There is an opportunity to create a significant positive impact through changes in agricultural practices. By halving food waste, providing alternative plant-based proteins, and advancing regenerative agriculture, the agricultural sector alone could free up a land area that is the size of one and a half times Europe by the year 2050 and halt biodiversity loss by 2035.[lix]

The next newsletter will explore how businesses can safeguard Indigenous and community rights in agricultural supply chains. If you want to be notified when it comes out, please subscribe below.

About the authors

Christine Nikander is the founder of the environmental and social sustainability consultancy, Palsa & Pulk. She regularly helps companies navigate the complex regulatory and compliance obligations around their global supply chains. Christine studied law at the universities of Columbia (New York), Edinburgh (Scotland), and Leiden (the Netherlands). She has been writing The E-Waste Column weekly since 2022.

Heidrun Kordholste-Nikander is a freelance biodiversity & forestry consultant at Palsa & Pulk. Her core competences lay in implementing sustainability into forestry and agricultural practices. Heidrun also advises clients on how to protect biodiversity. Heidrun studied forest management and environmental protection technology in Munich (Germany) and North American studies in Helsinki (Finland). Through her consultancy work, she hopes to help companies make science-based sustainability decisions that are practical, pragmatic, and effective.

About Palsa & Pulk

Palsa & Pulk is an environmental and social sustainability consultancy. It provides compliance, governance, policy, and strategic advice to its clients. The consultancy’s work is mostly focused on supply chain governance, the just transition, circular economy, and human rights.

Stay up to date

Our monthly newsletter is published here on Substack, on LinkedIn, and on our blog. Subscribe to be notified when our newsletters are published.

[i] Pallab Mozumder and Berrens Robert P., Inorganic fertilizer use and biodiversity risk: An empirical investigation. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0921800906003569 (24.02.2025).

[ii] United Nations Environment Programme, Pollution action: the missing link in biodiversity protection. https://www.unep.org/gef/news-and-stories/story/pollution-action-missing-link-biodiversity-protection (24.02.2025).

[iii] Fungi Foundation, Biodiversity. https://www.ffungi.org/why-fungi/biodiversity (24.02.2025).

[iv] Silvina Vargas Gil and J.R. Vargas Gil, Biological Sustainability, in Encyclopedia of Environmental Health (Second Edition, 2019). https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/earth-and-planetary-sciences/soil-biodiversity (24.02.2025).

[v] Monica A. Farfan and Diana H. Wall, Soil Biology, in Encyclopedia of Soils in the Environment (Second Edition, 2023). https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/earth-and-planetary-sciences/soil-biodiversity (24.02.2025).

[vi] Leidivan Almeida Frazão et al., Environment and Management, in Encyclopedia of Soils in the Environment (Second Edition, 2023). https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/earth-and-planetary-sciences/soil-biodiversity (24.02.2025).

[vii] United Nations Environment Programme, Pollution action: the missing link in biodiversity protection. https://www.unep.org/gef/news-and-stories/story/pollution-action-missing-link-biodiversity-protection (24.02.2025).

[viii] Pallab Mozumder and Robert P. Berrens, Inorganic fertilizer use and biodiversity risk: An empirical investigation

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0921800906003569 (24.02.2025); L Hens and L.X. Quynh, Reference Module in Earth Systems and Environmental Sciences (2016), https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/agricultural-and-biological-sciences/arable-land (24.02.2025).

[ix] Annette Jensen, Wasserverschmutzung: So ein Dreck! https://www.boell.de/de/2025/01/08/wasserverschmutzung-so-ein-dreck (24.02.2025).

[x] Annette Jensen, Wasserverschmutzung: So ein Dreck! https://www.boell.de/de/2025/01/08/wasserverschmutzung-so-ein-dreck (24.02.2025).

[xi] Annette Jensen, Wasserverschmutzung: So ein Dreck! https://www.boell.de/de/2025/01/08/wasserverschmutzung-so-ein-dreck (24.02.2025).

[xii] Spektrum, Bodenverslazung, in Lexikon der Biologie. https://www.spektrum.de/lexikon/biologie/bodenversalzung/9881 (24.02.25).

[xiii] Paolo Tarolli et al., Soil salinization in agriculture: Mitigation and adaptation strategies combining nature-based solutions and bioengineering. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2589004224000518 (24.02.2025).

[xiv] Pflanzenforschung.de, Bodenversalzung: Eine fatale Dreiecksbeziehung: Salz + Bakterium = Krankheit. https://www.pflanzenforschung.de/de/pflanzenwissen/journal/bodenversalzung (31.07.2025).

[xv] Paolo Tarolli et al., Soil salinization in agriculture: Mitigation and adaptation strategies combining nature-based solutions and bioengineering. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2589004224000518 (24.02.2025).

[xvi] Paolo Tarolli et al., Soil salinization in agriculture: Mitigation and adaptation strategies combining nature-based solutions and bioengineering. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2589004224000518 (24.02.2025).

[xvii] Paolo Tarolli et al., Soil salinization in agriculture: Mitigation and adaptation strategies combining nature-based solutions and bioengineering. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2589004224000518 (24.02.2025).

[xviii] Purdue University, Importance of Insects. https://extension.entm.purdue.edu/radicalbugs/index.php?page=importance_of_insects (24.02.2025).

[xix] US Department of Agriculture, The Importance of Pollinators. https://www.usda.gov/peoples-garden/pollinators (24.02.2025).

[xx] US Department of Agriculture, The Importance of Pollinators. https://www.usda.gov/peoples-garden/pollinators (24.02.2025); World Economic Forum: 75% of crops depend on pollinators - they must be protected. https://www.weforum.org/stories/2019/12/protect-pollinators-food-security-biodiversity-agriculture/ (24.02.2025).

[xxi] US Department of Agriculture, The Importance of Pollinators. https://www.usda.gov/peoples-garden/pollinators (24.02.2025).

[xxii] World Economic Forum, 75% of crops depend on pollinators - they must be protected. https://www.weforum.org/stories/2019/12/protect-pollinators-food-security-biodiversity-agriculture/ (24.02.2025).

[xxiii] Daniel P. Faith, Biodiversity, in Standford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/biodiversity/ (24.01.2025).

[xxiv] Shriram H. Bairagi: Insects with Potential Medicinal Significance: A Review, BioMedical Journal of Science & Technical Research, https://biomedres.us/fulltexts/BJSTR.MS.ID.002849.php# (24.01.2025).

[xxv] Daniel P. Faith, Biodiversity, in Standford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/biodiversity/ (24.01.2025).

[xxvi] Astrid Jankielsohn, The Importance of Insects in Agricultural Ecosystems, Scientific Research Publishing Inc. https://www.scirp.org/journal/paperinformation?paperid=83726 (24.01.2025).

[xxvii] United Nations Environment Programme, Pollution action: the missing link in biodiversity protection. https://www.unep.org/gef/news-and-stories/story/pollution-action-missing-link-biodiversity-protection (24.02.2025).

[xxviii] Saeed S. Albaseer et al., Beyond the field: How pesticide drift endangers biodiversity. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0269749124022437 (24.02.2025).

[xxix] Saeed S. Albaseer et al., Beyond the field: How pesticide drift endangers biodiversity. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0269749124022437 (24.02.2025).

[xxx] Annette Jensen, Wasserverschmutzung: So ein Dreck! https://www.boell.de/de/2025/01/08/wasserverschmutzung-so-ein-dreck (24.02.2025).

[xxxi] United Nations Environment Programme, Pollution action: the missing link in biodiversity protection. https://www.unep.org/gef/news-and-stories/story/pollution-action-missing-link-biodiversity-protection (24.02.2025).

[xxxii] UL Centre for Ecology & Hydrology: Comprehensive global study shows pesticides are major contributor to biodiversity crisis. https://www.ceh.ac.uk/press/comprehensive-global-study-shows-pesticides-are-major-contributor-biodiversity-crisis (24.02.2025).

[xxxiii] United Nations Environment Programme Pollution action: the missing link in biodiversity protection. https://www.unep.org/gef/news-and-stories/story/pollution-action-missing-link-biodiversity-protection (24.02.2025).

[xxxiv] Umweltbundesamt, PFAS Gekommen um zu bleiben, in Schwerpunkt, Das Magazin des Umweltbundesamtes 1/2020. https://www.umweltbundesamt.de/publikationen/schwerpunkt-1-2020-pfas-gekommen-um-zu-bleiben (24.02.2025); Umweltbundesamt, PFAS im Trinkwasser – Sachstand und Aspekte zur Bewertung. https://www.umweltbundesamt.de/sites/default/files/medien/5620/dokumente/twk_2023_22_24051uba_empfehlung_pfas_im_trinkwasser_sachstand_und_aspekte_zur_bewertung_final.pdf (24.02.2025); Bundesministerium für Umwelt, Naturschutz, nukleare Sicherheit und Verbraucherschutz, Per- und polyfluorierte Chemikalien (PFAS). https://www.bundesumweltministerium.de/faqs/per-und-polyfluorierte-chemikalien-pfas (24.02.2025); Jeffrey Kluger, PFAS ‘Forever Chemicals’ Are Turning Up in Menstrual Products. Here’s What You Need to Know. https://time.com/6254060/pfas-period-chemicals-underwear-tampons/ (31.07.2025); Nancy Redd, https://www.nytimes.com/wirecutter/blog/forever-chemicals-in-period-incontinence-products/ (31.07.2025).

[xxxv] Solarwatt, Photovoltaikanlage: Entsorgung und Recycling. https://www.solarwatt.de/ratgeber/photovoltaikanlage-entsorgung-und-recycling (24.02.2025).

[xxxvi] Umweltbundesamt, PFAS Gekommen um zu bleiben, in Schwerpunkt, Das Magazin des Umweltbundesamtes 1/2020. https://www.umweltbundesamt.de/publikationen/schwerpunkt-1-2020-pfas-gekommen-um-zu-bleiben (24.02.2025); Umweltbundesamt, PFAS im Trinkwasser – Sachstand und Aspekte zur Bewertung. https://www.umweltbundesamt.de/sites/default/files/medien/5620/dokumente/twk_2023_22_24051uba_empfehlung_pfas_im_trinkwasser_sachstand_und_aspekte_zur_bewertung_final.pdf (24.02.2025); Bundesministerium für Umwelt, Naturschutz, nukleare Sicherheit und Verbraucherschutz, Per- und polyfluorierte Chemikalien (PFAS). https://www.bundesumweltministerium.de/faqs/per-und-polyfluorierte-chemikalien-pfas (24.02.2025).

[xxxvii] Ena Vujic et al., Effects of PFAS on human liver transporters: implications for health outcomes. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC11285162/ (24.02.2025).

[xxxviii] Ena Vujic et al., Effects of PFAS on human liver transporters: implications for health outcomes. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC11285162/ (24.02.2025).

[xxxix] UFZ, Helmholz, Zenturm für Umweltforschung, Bioindikator für das Vorkommen von PFAS. https://www.ufz.de/index.php?de=36336&webc_pm=17/2023 (24.02.2025).

[xl] UFZ, Helmholz, Zenturm für Umweltforschung, Bioindikator für das Vorkommen von PFAS. https://www.ufz.de/index.php?de=36336&webc_pm=17/2023 (24.02.2025).

[xli] Directive (EU) 2020/2184 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 16 December 2020 on the quality of water intended for human consumption, Official Journal of the European Union. https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/HTML/?uri=CELEX:32020L2184

[xlii] Pallab Mozumder and Berrens Robert P., Inorganic fertilizer use and biodiversity risk: An empirical investigation. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0921800906003569 (24.02.2025).

[xliii] Trase, Traceability is not a silver bullet for reducing deforestation. https://trase.earth/insights/traceability-is-not-a-silver-bullet-for-reducing-deforestation (21.08.2024); Elizabeth Goldman, Sarah Carter, and Michelle Sims, Fires Drove Record-breaking Tropical Forest Loss in 2024. https://research.wri.org/gfr/latest-analysis-deforestation-trends (31.07.2025).

[xliv] Trase, How data can make the EU's deforestation regulation fair and workable. https://trase.earth/insights/how-data-can-make-the-eu-s-deforestation-regulation-fair-and-workable (21.08.2024); Martin Persson, Agriculture drives over 90% of deforestation in the tropics. https://www.chalmers.se/en/current/news/see-agriculture-drives-over-90-of-deforestation-in-the-tropics/ (21.08.2024).

[xlv] Trase, How data can make the EU's deforestation regulation fair and workable. https://trase.earth/insights/how-data-can-make-the-eu-s-deforestation-regulation-fair-and-workable (21.08.2024); Daisy Dunne, Deforestation has driven up hottest day temperatures, study says. https://www.carbonbrief.org/deforestation-has-driven-up-hottest-day-temperatures/ (21.08.2024).

[xlvi] Trase, How data can make the EU's deforestation regulation fair and workable. https://trase.earth/insights/how-data-can-make-the-eu-s-deforestation-regulation-fair-and-workable (21.08.2024).

[xlvii] Trase, How data can make the EU's deforestation regulation fair and workable. https://trase.earth/insights/how-data-can-make-the-eu-s-deforestation-regulation-fair-and-workable (21.08.2024).

[xlviii] Trase, How data can make the EU's deforestation regulation fair and workable. https://trase.earth/insights/how-data-can-make-the-eu-s-deforestation-regulation-fair-and-workable (21.08.2024).

[xlix] Livia Cabernard, Land use in tropical regions; Biodiversity loss due to agricultural trade three times higher than thought.

https://www.tum.de/en/news-and-events/all-news/press-releases/details/biodiversity-loss-due-to-agricultural-trade-three-times-higher-than-thought (13.12.2024).

[l] Trase, How data can make the EU's deforestation regulation fair and workable. https://trase.earth/insights/how-data-can-make-the-eu-s-deforestation-regulation-fair-and-workable (21.08.2024).

[li] Livia Cabernard, Land use in tropical regions; Biodiversity loss due to agricultural trade three times higher than thought. https://www.tum.de/en/news-and-events/all-news/press-releases/details/biodiversity-loss-due-to-agricultural-trade-three-times-higher-than-thought (13.12.2024).

[lii] Trase, How data can make the EU's deforestation regulation fair and workable. https://trase.earth/insights/how-data-can-make-the-eu-s-deforestation-regulation-fair-and-workable (21.08.2024).

[liii] Profundo, Analysis of EUDR compliance costs. https://profundo.nl/projects/analysis-of-eudr-compliance-costs-/ (13.02.2025).

[liv] Livia Cabernard, Land use in tropical regions; Biodiversity loss due to agricultural trade three times higher than thought. https://www.tum.de/en/news-and-events/all-news/press-releases/details/biodiversity-loss-due-to-agricultural-trade-three-times-higher-than-thought (13.12.2024).

[lv] Sitra, Nordic circular solutions tackle biodiversity loss. https://www.sitra.fi/en/articles/nordic-circular-solutions-tackle-biodiversity-loss/ (31.07.2025).

[lvi] Sitra, Nordic circular solutions tackle biodiversity loss. https://www.sitra.fi/en/articles/nordic-circular-solutions-tackle-biodiversity-loss/ (31.07.2025).

[lvii] Sitra, Tackling root causes: halting biodiversity loss through the circular economy. https://www.sitra.fi/en/events/tackling-root-causes-halting-biodiversity-loss-through-the-circular-economy%EF%BF%BC/ (31.07.2025).

[lviii] World Economic Forum, 75% of crops depend on pollinators - they must be protected. https://www.weforum.org/stories/2019/12/protect-pollinators-food-security-biodiversity-agriculture/ (31.07.2025).

[lix] Sitra, Tackling root causes: halting biodiversity loss through the circular economy. https://www.sitra.fi/en/events/tackling-root-causes-halting-biodiversity-loss-through-the-circular-economy%EF%BF%BC/ (31.07.2025); Sitra, Circular solutions can halt biodiversity loss – The food and agriculture sector can make the largest contribution. https://www.sitra.fi/en/news/circular-solutions-can-halt-biodiversity-loss-the-food-and-agriculture-sector-can-make-the-largest-contribution/ (31.07.2025).

Why is water becoming scarcer?

We live on a blue planet with water scarcity. How is that possible? About 75% of Earth’s surface is covered by water. Yet, less than 3% of the water on Earth is fresh water. Of this fresh water, less than 1% is accessible, as it is mostly held in groundwater.^[i] We use this water for consumption, agriculture, and industry. This supply has abruptly dropped since a number of droughts in 2014 and has not recovered.^[ii] Less frequent but more intense rainfall due to climate change causes soil to become dry and not able to retain water which runs off with extreme precipitation.^[iii] Furthermore, the increased risk of flooding and rising sea levels can contaminate water resources with saltwater and (faecal) contaminants.

Other causes for water scarcity are the increased use and demand for water by industry and consumers. Water intensive lifestyles include indirect use of water “such as greater consumption of water intensive foods such as meat, as well as through increased demand for goods that require large quantities of water to produce, such as cars, electronics, clothing, and larger homes”.^[iv] This is exacerbated by poor wastewater management. “Globally about 80 percent of industrial and municipal wastewaters are discharged untreated into waterways that communities use for drinking, bathing, and agriculture”.^[v] Deforestation further decreases the water-retaining capabilities by trees and other plants further exacerbating the scarcity of water.

Plants and (aquatic) animals rely on fresh water to survive and change in water availability and subsequent surrounding temperatures affect the species able to survive in new environments. People also depend on water, production of food, and the species that depend on water. The 2023 UNICEF report, titled “The Climate Changed Child”, shows that 1 in 3 children are exposed to high water scarcity.^[vi] This affects their growth and development and increases the risk for illnesses. Water scarcity also affects the ability to engage in other activities, like going to school, as water needs to be collected — and this is often done by women and children.^[vii] Overall, it is expected that “some 700 million people could be displaced by intense water scarcity by 2030”.^[viii]

What causes water injustices?

Amongst others, climate change “has affected the availability of water resources, including drinking water for human consumption and water for basic needs for irrigation or livestock”.^[ix] The UN’s Human Rights Council has held “that the adverse effects of climate change have a disproportionate impact on populations in situations of vulnerability, such as indigenous peoples”.^[x] This is “due to their direct dependence on aquatic ecosystems, the lack of protection of their self-governance rights and adequate infrastructure”.^[xi]

Indigenous Peoples are affected strongly by climate change because of “[t]heir geographical location in areas that are particularly susceptible to its effects”.^[xii] Indigenous Peoples “have endured centuries of colonization, violence and domination, often relegated to live in marginal territories, in harsh conditions”.^[xiii] The areas where Indigenous Peoples now live are largely vulnerable “to drought, flooding and other risks especially when their aquatic ecosystems are degraded or affected by megaprojects or aggressive developments”.^[xiv]

Power dynamics from colonial history often dominate who has the right to water infrastructure. In Hawaii, for example, despite the closing of the last sugar plantation, descendants of plantations “still control vast tracts of land and the water infrastructure”.^[xv] Litigations to grant the public access to water still continue in Hawaii. In 2024, there was a notable ruling in Maui by the Hawaii Supreme Court “to return more stream flows to Nā Wai ʻEhā after the closure of the former Hawaiian Commercial & Sugar (HC&S) plantation in 2016”.^[xvi]

Another issue that can cause water injustices is the lack of transparent governance. For example, “the lack of enforced water regulation and environmental laws and limited wastewater treatment” led to the decline of Lake Urmia in Iran.^[xvii] This concretely happened because no one was held accountable for the excessive consumption for irrigation in the basin.

Violence due to water

Sadly, “[v]iolence over water is on the rise globally”.^[xviii] The “number of conflicts [that] erupted in 2023” set a new record.^[xix] It “far surpass[es] the [...] conflicts recorded in 2022 and [is] continuing a rising trend that has persisted over the last decade.”^[xx] Amongst others, conflicts can arise “where water or water systems have been a trigger of violence; have been used as a “weapon”; or have been targeted and become a “casualty” of violence.”^[xxi] Data from the global water think tank, the Pacific Institute “show that water-related disputes — ranging from quarrels over water sources to protests over lack of clean water — have erupted into violence with alarming frequency, and that water systems have increasingly been targeted in conflicts.”^[xxii]

“The upsurge in violence [over water globally] reflects continuing disputes over control and access to scarce water resources, growing pressures on supplies driven by population growth and climate change, and ongoing attacks on water infrastructure where war and violence are widespread, especially in the Middle East and Ukraine”. For example, “[i]n Pakistan, two groups of farmers started arguing in the fields and attacked each other with axes, clubs and bricks in a bloody fight over water”. As another example, “[i]n South Africa, hundreds of people protesting a water shortage blocked roads with burning tires and hurled rocks at police”. Moreover, “Russian attacks on infrastructure left a city of nearly 1 million people without water” in Ukraine.^[xxiii]

The “threats against environmental human rights defenders” and killings of Indigenous Peoples for defending their water rights have unfortunately increased over the past years. An “indigenous woman defender of water and rivers” was, for example, murdered In Honduras in 2016 “for opposing the Agua Zarca dam”. Several “indigenous leaders have been murdered” in Colombia. Moreover, “over 5,000 indigenous Papuans, who face a lack of access to food, water and sanitation”, have been displaced from “the provinces of Papua and West Papua, Indonesia” after killings occurred and excessive force was used.^[xxiv]

What could water justice look like?

Overall, “[p]olicymakers face multiple challenges regarding water management and must grapple with both an uncertain future and competing interests, while also ensuring there is enough water for people, cities, agriculture and ecosystems".^[xxv] Yet, “[a]ccess to water is the greatest risk to global prosperity and addressing the [UN Sustainable Development Goals]".^[xxvi]

The fact that many countries “deny the very existence of their indigenous peoples, turning a blind eye on international agreements” is a major barrier to Indigenous Peoples’ access to water.^[xxvii] Governments are notably under an obligation to uphold Indigenous Peoples’ rights to self-determination, to “free and well-informed consultations”, as well as to “consent prior to any intervention in their territories”.^[xxviii] Yet, the failure to protect these rights is not uncommon.

There are, however, also examples of rights being granted and upheld. For example, “[i]n North America, the Yinka Dene’ Uza’hné (hereditary chiefs) of the Nadleh Wut’en and Stellat’en First Nation developed its own water management policy and successfully advocated for their implementation in their traditional territories”.^[xxix] Moreover, “[t]he Government of Canada reached a settlement with First Nations communities on prolonged drinking-water advisories on their reserves across the country”.^[xxx] Additionally, “[t]he Inter-American Court of Human Rights has issued landmark decisions favouring the Yakye Axa, Sawhoyamaxa and Xákmok kásek indigenous peoples, ordering the Government of Paraguay to provide a sufficient supply of drinking water and to build latrines”.^[xxxi] Similarly, “[t]he Court ruled against the Government of Ecuador for having granted an oil exploration and exploitation licence without the required prior consultation with the Kichwa indigenous people of Sarayaku”.^[xxxii]

Potential solutions companies can contribute to

In their “Water Beyond Boundaries” initiative, the Stockholm Environment Institute (SEI) summarizes three pillars for sustainable water planning. Under these pillars: (1) “Sustainable water management should reach beyond the watershed, with participatory processes based not only on place but also on impact”, (2) “Ecosystems should be considered from the beginning (Early stages) in the water management and planning processes”, and (3) “Water management should involve the people affected by decisions, recognizing and addressing power imbalances across scales”.^[xxxiii] In this context, it is worth noting that the protection of wetlands and riverine systems is “central to any hopes of tackling the climate emergency facing our planet” and to protecting biodiversity globally.^[xxxiv]

When considering the impact of (poorly) managed watersheds, one should not fail to understand the diverse ways in which people interact and value waterbodies.^[xxxv] In line with this, strengthening Indigenous and water rights is one potential solution to mitigating conflict. As aforementioned, Indigenous Peoples’ rights to self-determination should be upheld, with “free and well-informed consultations”, as well as to “consent prior to any intervention in their territories”.^[xxxvi] As an effective example of this, “in New Zealand, the Government and the Ngati Maniapoto Maori have secured co-governance agreements to co-manage the Waipa River”.^[xxxvii]

At international platforms, it is often the voices of environmental leaders including Indigenous leaders who “point out the gaps between what the government is committing on the international stage and what is between the fine lines”.^[xxxviii] Therefore, “[t]here is [also] a pressing need for different stakeholders to come together to protect environmental defenders and build a safe space for dialogue.”^[xxxix]

In all of this, coordination between “government agencies, the private sector, and civil society” is crucial to properly manage and allocate water resources.^[xl] The Murray-Darling Basin in Australia, for example, suffered from a lack of coordination between different states and territories sharing the river system. A lot of the water was allocated to the private irrigation sector — predominantly for cotton, pasture, and rice.^[xli] The ecological health of the basin — as well as the “spiritual, physical and economic relationship with their land and water” that First Nation People have^[xlii] — was largely overlooked in the face of competing interests — such as private irrigation, mining, the cooling of hydroelectric power generation, and other businesses requiring water for their daily operations.

Key measures that can improve the management of water basins include “limits on water use, improved compliance measures and significant improvements in water metering, monitoring and accounting”.^[xliii] Some concrete actions to limit water use include regreening initiatives for water retention and greening, decrease consumption of water-heavy products, and engaging in smart water-retention and usage.

The next newsletter will explore ways to protect biodiversity in agriculture. If you want to be notified when it comes out, please subscribe below.

About the authors

Krisna Baghouzian is a freelance sustainability consultant at Palsa & Pulk. She has a background in governance and past experience in working on sustainability at a local government with a people-centered approach. In her work, Krisna likes to take a holistic view of sustainability — by touching on different aspects of sustainability and their impact on our Earth and its inhabitants.

Christine Nikander is the founder of the environmental and social sustainability consultancy, Palsa & Pulk. She frequently speaks and writes about the environmental and human rights issues that arise through global supply chains and the energy transition. Christine studied law at the universities of Columbia (New York), Edinburgh (Scotland), and Leiden (the Netherlands). She has been writing The E-Waste Column weekly since 2022.

About Palsa & Pulk

Palsa & Pulk is an environmental and social sustainability consultancy. It provides compliance, governance, policy, and strategic advice to its clients. The consultancy’s work is mostly focused on supply chain governance, the just transition, circular economy, and human rights.

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^[i] WorldAtlas, What Percentage of the Earth's Water Is Drinkable? https://www.worldatlas.com/articles/what-percentage-of-the-earth-s-water-is-drinkable.html

^[ii] NASA, Global Freshwater Abruptly Declines. https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/images/153608/global-freshwater-abruptly-declines (29.05.2025).

^[iii] NASA, Global Freshwater Abruptly Declines. https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/images/153608/global-freshwater-abruptly-declines (29.05.2025).

^[iv] U.S. Office of the Director of National Intelligence, The Future of Water: Water Insecurity Threatening Global Economic Growth, Political Stability. https://www.dni.gov/index.php/gt2040-home/gt2040-deeper-looks/future-of-water (29.05.2025).

^[v] U.S. Office of the Director of National Intelligence, The Future of Water: Water Insecurity Threatening Global Economic Growth, Political Stability. https://www.dni.gov/index.php/gt2040-home/gt2040-deeper-looks/future-of-water (29.05.2025).

^[vi] UNICEF, 1 in 3 children exposed to severe water scarcity. https://www.unicef.org/press-releases/1-3-children-exposed-severe-water-scarcity-unicef (29.05.2025).

^[vii] UNICEF, Water scarcity: Addressing the growing lack of available water to meet children’s needs. https://www.unicef.org/wash/water-scarcity (29.05.2025).

^[viii] UNICEF, Water scarcity: Addressing the growing lack of available water to meet children’s needs. https://www.unicef.org/wash/water-scarcity (29.05.2025).

^[ix] Pedro Arrojo Agudo, Human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation of indigenous peoples: State of affairs and lessons from ancestral cultures. Report of the Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation, p.9. https://www.ohchr.org/sites/default/files/documents/issues/water/2022-11-04/A-HRC-51-24-Friendly-version-EN.pdf (19.03.2025).

^[x] Pedro Arrojo Agudo, Human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation of indigenous peoples: State of affairs and lessons from ancestral cultures. Report of the Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation, p.9. https://www.ohchr.org/sites/default/files/documents/issues/water/2022-11-04/A-HRC-51-24-Friendly-version-EN.pdf (19.03.2025).

^[xi] Pedro Arrojo Agudo, Human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation of indigenous peoples: State of affairs and lessons from ancestral cultures. Report of the Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation, p.9. https://www.ohchr.org/sites/default/files/documents/issues/water/2022-11-04/A-HRC-51-24-Friendly-version-EN.pdf (19.03.2025).

^[xii] Pedro Arrojo Agudo, Human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation of indigenous peoples: State of affairs and lessons from ancestral cultures. Report of the Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation, p.9. https://www.ohchr.org/sites/default/files/documents/issues/water/2022-11-04/A-HRC-51-24-Friendly-version-EN.pdf (19.03.2025).

^[xiii] Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Indigenous peoples face growing challenges to access safe water. https://www.ohchr.org/en/stories/2022/10/indigenous-peoples-face-growing-challenges-access-safe-water (19.03.2025).

^[xiv] Pedro Arrojo Agudo, Human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation of indigenous peoples: State of affairs and lessons from ancestral cultures. Report of the Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation, p.9. https://www.ohchr.org/sites/default/files/documents/issues/water/2022-11-04/A-HRC-51-24-Friendly-version-EN.pdf (19.03.2025).

^[xv] D. Kapuaʻala Sproat, From Wai to Waiwai (2020). In The Value of Hawaiʻi 3: Hulihia, the Turning (eds. Noelani Goodyear-Ka‘ōpua, Craig Howes, Jonathan Kay Kamakawiwo‘ole Osorio, Aiko Yamashiro). https://www.degruyter.com/document/doi/10.1515/9780824889159-026/pdf?licenseType=restricted (29.05.2025).

^[xvi] Earthjustice, Hawai‘i’s High Court Issues Another Historic Ruling in Maui “Four Waters” Case. https://earthjustice.org/press/2024/hawaiis-high-court-issues-another-historic-ruling-in-maui-four-waters-case (29.05.2025).

^[xvii] U.S. Office of the Director of National Intelligence, The Future of Water: Water Insecurity Threatening Global Economic Growth, Political Stability, https://www.dni.gov/index.php/gt2040-home/gt2040-deeper-looks/future-of-water (29.05.2025).

^[xviii] Ian James, Violence over water is on the rise globally. A record number of conflicts erupted in 2023. https://www.latimes.com/environment/newsletter/2024-08-22/boiling-point-water-conflicts-increasing-boiling-point (25.04.2025).

^[xix] Ian James, Violence over water is on the rise globally. A record number of conflicts erupted in 2023. https://www.latimes.com/environment/newsletter/2024-08-22/boiling-point-water-conflicts-increasing-boiling-point (25.04.2025).

^[xx] Ian James, Violence over water is on the rise globally. A record number of conflicts erupted in 2023. https://www.latimes.com/environment/newsletter/2024-08-22/boiling-point-water-conflicts-increasing-boiling-point (25.04.2025).

^[xxi] Ian James, Violence over water is on the rise globally. A record number of conflicts erupted in 2023. https://www.latimes.com/environment/newsletter/2024-08-22/boiling-point-water-conflicts-increasing-boiling-point (25.04.2025).

^[xxii] Ian James, Violence over water is on the rise globally. A record number of conflicts erupted in 2023. https://www.latimes.com/environment/newsletter/2024-08-22/boiling-point-water-conflicts-increasing-boiling-point (25.04.2025).

^[xxiii] Ian James, Violence over water is on the rise globally. A record number of conflicts erupted in 2023. https://www.latimes.com/environment/newsletter/2024-08-22/boiling-point-water-conflicts-increasing-boiling-point (25.04.2025).

^[xxiv] Pedro Arrojo Agudo, Human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation of indigenous peoples: State of affairs and lessons from ancestral cultures. Report of the Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation, p.11. https://www.ohchr.org/sites/default/files/documents/issues/water/2022-11-04/A-HRC-51-24-Friendly-version-EN.pdf (19.03.2025).

^[xxv] Stockholm Environment Institute, SEI Initiative on Water Beyond Boundaries. https://www.sei.org/projects/water-beyond-boundaries/ (29.05.2025).

^[xxvi] Stockholm Environment Institute, SEI Initiative on Water Beyond Boundaries. https://www.sei.org/projects/water-beyond-boundaries/ (29.05.2025).

^[xxvii] Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Indigenous peoples face growing challenges to access safe water. https://www.ohchr.org/en/stories/2022/10/indigenous-peoples-face-growing-challenges-access-safe-water (19.03.2025).

^[xxviii] Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, A/HRC/51/24: Human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation of indigenous peoples: state of affairs and lessons from ancestral cultures. https://www.ohchr.org/en/documents/thematic-reports/ahrc5124-human-rights-safe-drinking-water-and-sanitation-indigenous (19.03.2025).

^[xxix] Pedro Arrojo Agudo, Human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation of indigenous peoples: State of affairs and lessons from ancestral cultures. Report of the Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation, p.6. https://www.ohchr.org/sites/default/files/documents/issues/water/2022-11-04/A-HRC-51-24-Friendly-version-EN.pdf (19.03.2025).

^[xxx] Pedro Arrojo Agudo, Human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation of indigenous peoples: State of affairs and lessons from ancestral cultures. Report of the Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation, p.6. https://www.ohchr.org/sites/default/files/documents/issues/water/2022-11-04/A-HRC-51-24-Friendly-version-EN.pdf (19.03.2025).

^[xxxi] Pedro Arrojo Agudo, Human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation of indigenous peoples: State of affairs and lessons from ancestral cultures. Report of the Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation, p.6. https://www.ohchr.org/sites/default/files/documents/issues/water/2022-11-04/A-HRC-51-24-Friendly-version-EN.pdf (19.03.2025).

^[xxxii] Pedro Arrojo Agudo, Human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation of indigenous peoples: State of affairs and lessons from ancestral cultures. Report of the Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation, p.6. https://www.ohchr.org/sites/default/files/documents/issues/water/2022-11-04/A-HRC-51-24-Friendly-version-EN.pdf (19.03.2025).

^[xxxiii] Stockholm Environment Institute, SEI Initiative on Water Beyond Boundaries, https://www.sei.org/projects/water-beyond-boundaries/ (29.05.2025).

^[xxxiv] Wetlands International, Call for an ambitious Global Biodiversity Framework on World Wetlands Day 2020. https://www.wetlands.org/call-for-an-ambitious-global-biodiversity-framework-on-world-wetlands-day-2020/ (20.02.2025); Wetlands International, Call for an ambitious Global Biodiversity Framework on World Wetlands Day 2020. https://www.wetlands.org/call-for-an-ambitious-global-biodiversity-framework-on-world-wetlands-day-2020/ (20.02.2025).

^[xxxv] Cherie J Campbell et al., More Than a Service: Values of Rivers, Wetlands and Floodplains Are Informed by Both Function and Felling, https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007/s00267-023-01900-2.pdf (29.05.2025).

^[xxxvi] Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, A/HRC/51/24: Human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation of indigenous peoples: state of affairs and lessons from ancestral cultures. https://www.ohchr.org/en/documents/thematic-reports/ahrc5124-human-rights-safe-drinking-water-and-sanitation-indigenous (19.03.2025).

^[xxxvii] Pedro Arrojo Agudo, Human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation of indigenous peoples: State of affairs and lessons from ancestral cultures. Report of the Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation. https://www.ohchr.org/sites/default/files/documents/issues/water/2022-11-04/A-HRC-51-24-Friendly-version-EN.pdf (19.03.2025).

^[xxxviii] International Rivers, COP28: River Protectors highlight the critical intersection of climate, biodiversity and human rights. https://www.internationalrivers.org/news/cop28-river-protectors-highlight-the-importance-of-the-intersection-of-climate-biodiversity-and-human-rights/ (29.05.2025).

^[xxxix] International Rivers, COP28: River Protectors highlight the critical intersection of climate, biodiversity and human rights. https://www.internationalrivers.org/news/cop28-river-protectors-highlight-the-importance-of-the-intersection-of-climate-biodiversity-and-human-rights/ (29.05.2025).

^[xl] U.S. Office of the Director of National Intelligence, The Future of Water: Water Insecurity Threatening Global Economic Growth, Political Stability. https://www.dni.gov/index.php/gt2040-home/gt2040-deeper-looks/future-of-water (29.05.2025).

^[xli] Australian Bureau of Statistics, Water and the Murray-Darling Basin - A Statistical Profile, 2000-01 to 2005-06, https://www.abs.gov.au/AUSSTATS/abs@.nsf/0/BF549EC0A50783E3CA2574A50014D0B0?opendocument (29.05.2025).

^[xlii] Australian Government, Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water, The Murray-Darling Rivers: Pumping life through our nation -to our farms, communities and the environment, https://www.dcceew.gov.au/campaign/murraydarling/first-nations (29.05.2025).

^[xliii] Australian Government, 2020 Basin Plan Evaluation, https://www.mdba.gov.au/water-management/basin-plan/basin-plan-evaluations/2020-basin-plan-evaluation (29.05.2025).

What is the value of water?

In recent years, access to water has gained recognition as a basic human right.^[i] Yet, beyond this, water can be seen to have an intrinsic value, a utility value, and a relational value. Following the Nature Future Framework initiated by an expert group of the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES), water in its many forms can hold value for the sake of existing, for its hydrological cycles, as well as for altering landscapes and shaping life.^[ii]

One of the forms of life supported by water are humans, who use water for drinking, fishing, transportation, growing crops, supporting livestock and industries, hygiene, recreation and more. This describes the utility value of water, which humans often try to maximize. Yet, water can also have a value through being a part of our cultural heritage, such as is — for example — the case for water ecosystems that are considered sacred or religious places.

Water pollution can also be seen as a threat to cultural identity. It can be a resource needed to sustain a traditional way of living. It can also be a resource to maintain traditions and cultural practices. Notably, “[i]n the traditions of many indigenous peoples, water is life itself”.^[iii] Many Indigenous Peoples hold the view that “water belongs to everyone and should remain available to all, as a common good”. The approach of Indigenous Peoples to water “offers a valuable example of [the] community-based management of safe drinking water and sanitation”.^[iv]

Barriers to Indigenous Peoples’ access to water

According to the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, “the impact of extractivism on natural resources, compounded with the effects of climate change, has meant many indigenous peoples no longer have access to safe drinking water under international human rights standards”.^[v] Overall, “[t]he degradation of the water bodies from which indigenous peoples draw their water [...] have disproportionate impacts on the health of indigenous peoples, especially women and children”.^[vi] The “toxic contamination [of water], together with the impacts of climate change and the lack of investment in necessary infrastructure” cause major issues.^[vii]

Indigenous Peoples currently face several challenges that undermine their access to clean water and proper sanitation.^[viii] Key issues include the “pollution of available water resources” of Indigenous Peoples, as well as the “lack of consultation on policies and projects affecting their water and sanitation rights”.^[ix] Moreover, “mining, the construction of immense hydroelectric dams, the development of large agricultural and livestock farms, massive land and water-grabbing processes and the development of large tourism projects in their territories are damaging and contaminating their water sources and putting their livelihoods at risk”.^[x]

Rights of Nature & the legal personhood of water bodies

One way in which water, and thus Indigenous Peoples, can be protected, is by granting legal personhood to water.^[xi] Over the past two decades, “the connections between nature, human beings, and law” have become increasingly recognized globally.^[xii] The movement for legal ‘Rights of Nature’ started in Ecuador in 2008, “when it enshrined rights of nature in its constitution”.^[xiii] Over the years, the Rights of Nature movement has been growing by using legal tools to honor “the deep interrelation of all life” and how nature “contributes to the health and integrity of the natural environment”.^[xiv]

The definition of the legal personhood of water is context specific. That said, water as “a legal person” can broadly be defined as: “where nature as a whole, or a specific natural entity such as a river is formally recognised as a legal person, with all the rights, duties, liabilities and powers of a legal person”.^[xv] Water can also be considered a “legal subject”, “where nature as a whole, or a specific natural entity, is recognised as the subject of specific, enumerated rights”.^[xvi] There are also informal variations of recognition in which nature is “recognised as a living or moral person with rights and duties of a living person”, or as a “living entity” that is “recognized in law as being alive, but without legal rights and powers of a legal person, living subject or living person”.^[xvii]

In 2011, Magpie River, or Mutuhekau Shipu, was the first river in Canada to be granted legal personhood.^[xviii] The river is sacred to the Innu First Nation, who have “depended on it as a major highway, food source, and natural pharmacy for centuries”.^[xix] Hydroelectric dam development has, however, disrupted the river’s flow, negatively affecting its biodiversity.^[xx] In order to protect the river, “the Innu Council of Ekuanitshit and the Minganie Regional County Municipality declared the Mutuhekau Shipu a legal person in 2021”.^[xxi] It is one of the many rivers granted legal personhood, “as part of a global, Indigenous-led campaign”.^[xxii]

Hawaii, on the other hand, works with the concept of water as a “public trust” for present and future generations.^[xxiii] Life-giving water was considered sacred and “strong public trust principles” were included in Hawaii’s first Western-style constitution in 1840.^[xxiv] In Hawaii, “the 1978 Constitutional Convention passed amendments”, which “enshrine[d] resource protection as a constitutional mandate”.^[xxv] The constitutional mandate includes the State’s obligation “to protect, control, and regulate the use of Hawai’i’s water resources for the benefits of its people” (Article XI, section 7).^[xxvi] Moreover, in 1987, Hawaii also enacted its Water Code, which establishes “a new framework for water resource management that balanced resource protection with reasonable and beneficial use”.^[xxvii]

Indigenous Peoples’ knowledge on water management

An overarching issue in modern water management and Indigenous Peoples’ access to water is “water and sanitation projects not having a sustainable strategy to prevent funding exhaustion”.^[xxviii] One way to solve this is to factor in the knowledge and know-how of Indigenous Peoples. The beliefs and practices of Indigenous Peoples provide “a genuine expression of the sustainability and eco-systemic approach, which today we are trying to promote in the planning and management of water throughout the world”.^[xxix]

Overall, “[t]he territories of indigenous peoples comprise about 25 per cent of the world’s land surface, including approximately 40 per cent of all protected land areas and ecologically intact landscapes”. All in all, “indigenous peoples have preserved 80 per cent of the remaining terrestrial biodiversity”.^[xxx] It is estimated that there are currently 476 million Indigenous individuals living spread across more than 90 countries. Therewith, Indigenous Peoples represent 6.2% of the world population. Yet, they also make up 18.7% of “the extremely poor” and approximately 33% of people “living in extreme poverty in rural areas”.^[xxxi] Despite the threats and hardships Indigenous People have faced, “[t]he availability of quality water in [many] indigenous peoples’ territories was preserved due to their sustainable practices as well as [the] difficult accessibility of their territories”.^[xxxii]

By Indigenous communities, “[w]ater is not considered or managed as a resource but is considered to be part of an interconnected whole”. In line with this, water “management is based on an integrated territorial vision and on deep respect and care for rivers, springs, lakes and wetlands”.^[xxxiii] Moreover, “[i]n many indigenous cultures, the role of women as carriers and stewards of water is linked to their role as life-givers”. In line with this, Indigenous women and girls “have a sacred mission to care for water for present and future generations”. They “ensure the availability of quality water”. Additionally, they “play an essential role in spiritual ceremonies, protect water bodies from pollution, [as well as] care for the forests, plants and herbs to maintain the ability of the soil to absorb and retain water”.^[xxxiv]

All in all, Indigenous Peoples “offer us valuable ways to address the global water crisis through their traditional practices, both in terms of the sustainable management of aquatic ecosystems and the democratic governance of safe drinking water and sanitation”.^[xxxv] Despite this, Indigenous Peoples are commonly left out “from planning and strategic decision-making in climate change prevention and adaptation”. This “often increases the risks they face in water and sanitation”.^[xxxvi] Overall, “the richness of indigenous peoples' knowledge and their evolution to adapt to climate change in their territories are often ignored”.^[xxxvii] In line with this, “mainstream approaches to water management often dismiss indigenous peoples’ water knowledge and management systems as unscientific or folkloric”. This disregards “the fact that their knowledge is based on empirical experience, resulting from living in their territories from generation to generation”.^[xxxviii]

What measures should companies take to protect water rights?

Currently, “land and water grabbing are ongoing in the territories of indigenous peoples”. This occurs “through the construction of large hydroelectric dams, the growth of agribusiness, mining operations, deforestation and tourism developments, which disregard the rights of indigenous peoples, as well as damage and contaminate their water sources”.^[xxxix] Companies play a role in each of these issues, and they are therefore also in a position to be a part of the solution.

When approaching the protection of water, companies can, for example, turn to the Nature Future Framework for guidance. The three value perspectives encourage one to think of the intrinsic value of water (nature for nature), the utilitarian value of water (nature for society) and the value of water in relation to humans (nature as culture).^[xl] All in all, it is also worth noting that “information processes and respectful intercultural dialogue between [stakeholders] and indigenous peoples” are key “to ensure the most appropriate strategies to guarantee the potability of the water used”.^[xli]

To effectively uphold Indigenous rights, companies “must put in place the necessary means to ensure that indigenous peoples enjoy their human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation, inclusive of an intercultural dialogue that is respectful of their ancestral worldviews, knowledge and practices”.^[xlii] Moreover, “in order to guarantee compliance with the rights of indigenous peoples and effective control over their territories”, companies must ensure that the Indigenous “right to free, prior and informed consent [is] implemented before and during any action that affects them, including actions that affect their water and aquatic ecosystems”.^[xliii] In addition to meaningful stakeholder engagement, companies should carry out thorough social and environmental impact assessments. This information then needs to be shared with relevant stakeholders and form the basis for later dialogues.

The next newsletter will explore water scarcity and conflict. If you want to be notified when it comes out, please subscribe below.

About the authors

Krisna Baghouzian is a freelance sustainability consultant at Palsa & Pulk. She has a background in governance and past experience in working on sustainability at a local government with a people-centered approach. In her work, Krisna likes to take a holistic view of sustainability — by touching on different aspects of sustainability and their impact on our Earth and its inhabitants.

Christine Nikander is the founder of the environmental and social sustainability consultancy, Palsa & Pulk. She frequently speaks and writes about the environmental and human rights issues that arise through global supply chains and the energy transition. Christine studied law at the universities of Columbia (New York), Edinburgh (Scotland), and Leiden (the Netherlands). She has been writing The E-Waste Column weekly since 2022.

About Palsa & Pulk

Palsa & Pulk is an environmental and social sustainability consultancy. It provides compliance, governance, policy, and strategic advice to its clients. The consultancy’s work is mostly focused on supply chain governance, the just transition, circular economy, and human rights.

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^[i] The Indigenous Foundation, Lack of Clean Drinking Water in Indigenous communities. https://www.theindigenousfoundation.org/articles/lack-of-clean-drinking-water-in-indigenous-communities (19.03.2025).

^[ii] Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES), Scenarios and models. https://www.ipbes.net/scenarios-models (19.03.2025).

^[iii] Pedro Arrojo Agudo, Human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation of indigenous peoples: State of affairs and lessons from ancestral cultures. Report of the Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation, p. 2. https://www.ohchr.org/sites/default/files/documents/issues/water/2022-11-04/A-HRC-51-24-Friendly-version-EN.pdf (19.03.2025).

^[iv] Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Indigenous peoples face growing challenges to access safe water. https://www.ohchr.org/en/stories/2022/10/indigenous-peoples-face-growing-challenges-access-safe-water (19.03.2025).

^[v] Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Indigenous peoples face growing challenges to access safe water. https://www.ohchr.org/en/stories/2022/10/indigenous-peoples-face-growing-challenges-access-safe-water (19.03.2025).

^[vi] Pedro Arrojo Agudo, Human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation of indigenous peoples: State of affairs and lessons from ancestral cultures. Report of the Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation, p. 11. https://www.ohchr.org/sites/default/files/documents/issues/water/2022-11-04/A-HRC-51-24-Friendly-version-EN.pdf (19.03.2025).

^[vii] Pedro Arrojo Agudo, Human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation of indigenous peoples: State of affairs and lessons from ancestral cultures. Report of the Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation, p. 11. https://www.ohchr.org/sites/default/files/documents/issues/water/2022-11-04/A-HRC-51-24-Friendly-version-EN.pdf (19.03.2025); The Indigenous Foundation, Lack of Clean Drinking Water in Indigenous communities. https://www.theindigenousfoundation.org/articles/lack-of-clean-drinking-water-in-indigenous-communities (19.03.2025).

^[viii] Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Indigenous peoples face growing challenges to access safe water. https://www.ohchr.org/en/stories/2022/10/indigenous-peoples-face-growing-challenges-access-safe-water (19.03.2025); The Indigenous Foundation, Lack of Clean Drinking Water in Indigenous communities. https://www.theindigenousfoundation.org/articles/lack-of-clean-drinking-water-in-indigenous-communities (19.03.2025).

^[ix] https://www.ohchr.org/en/stories/2022/10/indigenous-peoples-face-growing-challenges-access-safe-water; The Indigenous Foundation, Lack of Clean Drinking Water in Indigenous communities. https://www.theindigenousfoundation.org/articles/lack-of-clean-drinking-water-in-indigenous-communities (19.03.2025).

^[x] Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, A/HRC/51/24: Human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation of indigenous peoples: state of affairs and lessons from ancestral cultures. https://www.ohchr.org/en/documents/thematic-reports/ahrc5124-human-rights-safe-drinking-water-and-sanitation-indigenous (19.03.2025).

^[xi] University of New South Wales Law and Justice Faculty and University of Melbourne Law School, Rivers have rights. So what happens now? https://law.unimelb.edu.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0008/4944752/Rivers-have-Rights.pdf (19.03.2025).

^[xii] Max Planck Institute for Comparative and International Private Law, Rights of Nature. https://www.mpipriv.de/rightsofnature (19.03.2025).

^[xiii] Patrick Barkham, Should rivers have the same rights as people? https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/jul/25/rivers-around-the-world-rivers-are-gaining-the-same-legal-rights-as-people (19.03.2025).

^[xiv] Global Alliance for the Rights of Nature, Our Mission.

https://www.garn.org/

(19.03.2025).

^[xv] University of New South Wales Law and Justice Faculty and University of Melbourne Law School, Rivers have rights. So what happens now? https://law.unimelb.edu.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0008/4944752/Rivers-have-Rights.pdf (19.03.2025).

^[xvi] University of New South Wales Law and Justice Faculty and University of Melbourne Law School, Rivers have rights. So what happens now? https://law.unimelb.edu.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0008/4944752/Rivers-have-Rights.pdf (19.03.2025).

^[xvii] University of New South Wales Law and Justice Faculty and University of Melbourne Law School, Rivers have rights. So what happens now? https://law.unimelb.edu.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0008/4944752/Rivers-have-Rights.pdf (19.03.2025).

^[xviii] Patrick Barkham, Should rivers have the same rights as people? https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/jul/25/rivers-around-the-world-rivers-are-gaining-the-same-legal-rights-as-people (19.03.2025).

^[xix] Chloe Berge, This Canadian river is now legally a person. It’s not the only one.. https://www.nationalgeographic.com/travel/article/these-rivers-are-now-considered-people-what-does-that-mean-for-travelers (19.03.2025).

^[xx] Kirk O Winemiller et al., Balancing Hydropower and Biodiversity in the Amazon, Congo, and Mekong. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/289532272_Balancing_Hydropower_and_Biodiversity_in_the_Amazon_Congo_and_Mekong (19.03.2025).

^[xxi] Chloe Berge, This Canadian river is now legally a person. It’s not the only one.. https://www.nationalgeographic.com/travel/article/these-rivers-are-now-considered-people-what-does-that-mean-for-travelers (19.03.2025).

^[xxii] Chloe Berge, This Canadian river is now legally a person. It’s not the only one. https://www.nationalgeographic.com/travel/article/these-rivers-are-now-considered-people-what-does-that-mean-for-travelers (19.03.2025).

^[xxiii] D. Kapua’ala Sproat, Water (2010). In The value of Hawai’i: Knowing the Past, shaping the future (eds. Craig Howes, Jon Osorio).

^[xxiv] D. Kapua’ala Sproat, Water (2010). In The value of Hawai’i: Knowing the Past, shaping the future (eds. Craig Howes, Jon Osorio).

^[xxv] D. Kapua’ala Sproat, Water (2010). In The value of Hawai’i: Knowing the Past, shaping the future (eds. Craig Howes, Jon Osorio).

^[xxvi] D. Kapua’ala Sproat, Water (2010). In The value of Hawai’i: Knowing the Past, shaping the future (eds. Craig Howes, Jon Osorio).

^[xxvii] D. Kapua’ala Sproat, Water (2010). In The value of Hawai’i: Knowing the Past, shaping the future (eds. Craig Howes, Jon Osorio).

^[xxviii] Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Indigenous peoples face growing challenges to access safe water. https://www.ohchr.org/en/stories/2022/10/indigenous-peoples-face-growing-challenges-access-safe-water (19.03.2025); The Indigenous Foundation, Lack of Clean Drinking Water in Indigenous communities. https://www.theindigenousfoundation.org/articles/lack-of-clean-drinking-water-in-indigenous-communities (19.03.2025).

^[xxix] Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Indigenous peoples face growing challenges to access safe water. https://www.ohchr.org/en/stories/2022/10/indigenous-peoples-face-growing-challenges-access-safe-water (19.03.2025).

^[xxx] Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Indigenous peoples face growing challenges to access safe water. https://www.ohchr.org/en/stories/2022/10/indigenous-peoples-face-growing-challenges-access-safe-water (19.03.2025).

^[xxxi] Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Indigenous peoples face growing challenges to access safe water. https://www.ohchr.org/en/stories/2022/10/indigenous-peoples-face-growing-challenges-access-safe-water (19.03.2025).

^[xxxii] Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Indigenous peoples face growing challenges to access safe water. https://www.ohchr.org/en/stories/2022/10/indigenous-peoples-face-growing-challenges-access-safe-water (19.03.2025).

^[xxxiii] Pedro Arrojo Agudo, Human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation of indigenous peoples: State of affairs and lessons from ancestral cultures. Report of the Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation, p. 2. https://www.ohchr.org/sites/default/files/documents/issues/water/2022-11-04/A-HRC-51-24-Friendly-version-EN.pdf (19.03.2025).

^[xxxiv] Pedro Arrojo Agudo, Human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation of indigenous peoples: State of affairs and lessons from ancestral cultures. Report of the Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation, p. 4. https://www.ohchr.org/sites/default/files/documents/issues/water/2022-11-04/A-HRC-51-24-Friendly-version-EN.pdf (19.03.2025).

^[xxxv] Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, A/HRC/51/24: Human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation of indigenous peoples: state of affairs and lessons from ancestral cultures. https://www.ohchr.org/en/documents/thematic-reports/ahrc5124-human-rights-safe-drinking-water-and-sanitation-indigenous (19.03.2025); Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Indigenous peoples face growing challenges to access safe water. https://www.ohchr.org/en/stories/2022/10/indigenous-peoples-face-growing-challenges-access-safe-water (19.03.2025).

^[xxxvi] Pedro Arrojo Agudo, Human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation of indigenous peoples: State of affairs and lessons from ancestral cultures. Report of the Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation, p. 9. https://www.ohchr.org/sites/default/files/documents/issues/water/2022-11-04/A-HRC-51-24-Friendly-version-EN.pdf (19.03.2025); The Indigenous Foundation, Lack of Clean Drinking Water in Indigenous communities. https://www.theindigenousfoundation.org/articles/lack-of-clean-drinking-water-in-indigenous-communities (19.03.2025).

^[xxxvii] Pedro Arrojo Agudo, Human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation of indigenous peoples: State of affairs and lessons from ancestral cultures. Report of the Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation, p. 9. https://www.ohchr.org/sites/default/files/documents/issues/water/2022-11-04/A-HRC-51-24-Friendly-version-EN.pdf (19.03.2025).

^[xxxviii] Pedro Arrojo Agudo, Human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation of indigenous peoples: State of affairs and lessons from ancestral cultures. Report of the Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation, p. 3. https://www.ohchr.org/sites/default/files/documents/issues/water/2022-11-04/A-HRC-51-24-Friendly-version-EN.pdf (19.03.2025).

^[xxxix] Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Indigenous peoples face growing challenges to access safe water. https://www.ohchr.org/en/stories/2022/10/indigenous-peoples-face-growing-challenges-access-safe-water (19.03.2025).

^[xl] Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES), Scenarios and models. https://www.ipbes.net/scenarios-models (20.03.2025).

^[xli] Pedro Arrojo Agudo, Human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation of indigenous peoples: State of affairs and lessons from ancestral cultures. Report of the Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation, p. 11. https://www.ohchr.org/sites/default/files/documents/issues/water/2022-11-04/A-HRC-51-24-Friendly-version-EN.pdf (19.03.2025).

^[xlii] https://www.ohchr.org/en/stories/2022/10/indigenous-peoples-face-growing-challenges-access-safe-water; The Indigenous Foundation, Lack of Clean Drinking Water in Indigenous communities. https://www.theindigenousfoundation.org/articles/lack-of-clean-drinking-water-in-indigenous-communities (19.03.2025); B.M.J. Kalpana Balasooriya et al., A review of drinking water quality issues in remote and indigenous communities in rich nations with special emphasis on Australia. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0048969723051847 (19.03.2025).

^[xliii] Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Indigenous peoples face growing challenges to access safe water. https://www.ohchr.org/en/stories/2022/10/indigenous-peoples-face-growing-challenges-access-safe-water (19.03.2025).

Why should companies protect river biodiversity?

Biodiversity is crucial to preserve a whole web of intricate interactions between species in ecosystems, which in turn ensure climate regulation,^[i] food production, water purification and flood protection. With biodiversity loss, we can expect huge economic losses. This is best illustrated by the European Central Bank’s research from 2023, which shows that approximately 75% of all euro area corporate loans are strongly dependent on at least one ecosystem service.^[ii]

While “covering less than 1% of the global surface area, freshwater ecosystems […] support a disproportionate number of flora and fauna”.^[iii] Overall, wetlands host 40% of all species.^[iv] As rivers connect different wetlands to one another, they are seen as “arteries of the landscape”.^[v] In line with this, river ecosystems are also key hubs for biodiversity — with species living inside and outside of the water.

What threats are there to river biodiversity?

There are multiple threats that rivers and their vast biodiversity face. The Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) outlines five major drivers of biodiversity loss: “(1) changes in land and sea use; (2) direct exploitation of organisms; (3) climate change; (4) pollution and (5) invasive alien species”.^[vi] Each of these drivers indirectly affect the reproductive abilities of species and directly affect factors in rivers such as water quantity (flow), quality, and how the river is connected from “source to sea”.^[vii] This, in turn, affects ecological conditions in the river.

The listed drivers are exacerbated by climate change. A changing climate alters habitats through increased wildfires, extreme weather conditions, shifts in temperature and water distribution. A concrete example of climate change directly affecting river diversity is that it causes an increased irregularity of the flow of rivers and streams.^[viii]

Why do barriers pose a threat to water habitats?

Change in water habitats can be seen in artificial barriers in waters, such as water-storing and hydroelectric dams. They hinder species migration in the river and alter water quality, sediment and nutrient flows. These are, notably, “environmental cues that are vital for species to complete their life cycles”.^[ix] As hydropower dams are increasingly used to generate renewable electricity, it may be worth considering how “[i]mprovements to flow regulation, fishway design and sediment redistribution can mitigate these ecological impacts”. Moreover, “[f]uture research should support reforms to dam operations and design adaptations to balance renewable electricity development and biodiversity conservation through systematic basin-scale planning, long-term monitoring, adaptive management and involving multiple actors in decision-making”.^[x]

Aside from aquatic species, terrestrial species also rely on rivers. River floodplains are highly concentrated with diverse habitats.^[xi] For example, “gravel-bed river floodplains contain over half of [western North America’s] plant diversity”, while they cover less than 3% of the area.^[xii] They are, therefore, vital to various species such as bears, birds, and microbes.^[xiii] The floodplains are grounds for food and reproduction and also increase resilience to adapt to changing environments, exacerbated by climate change. Thus, the whole river channel — including floodplain and other connected waters, such as shorelines — support a diverse network of species. These are often threatened by structural modifications “such as roads, railways, and housing”,^[xiv] or other engineering works such as the creation of waterways for shipping.^[xv]

Unfortunately, “74% of [...] Europe’s floodplains show severe degradation”.^[xvi] Due to “decades of river degradation”,^[xvii] “only 40% of waterbodies presently achieve good ecological status and 17% of floodplain habitats achieve good conservation status”.^[xviii] Overall, “[i]t is estimated that [global] habitat losses resulted in the decrease of 81% of monitored freshwater species populations between 1990 and 2012”.^[xix] To combat the degradation of rivers, restoration work needs to account for the natural movement of the river. In this context, reintroducing “naturalized flooding regimes”^[xx] and unfragmented “free-flowing rivers”^[xxi] is advised.

How does increasing pollution impact rivers?

There are a variety of different industrial and other waste streams that find their way into rivers. Amongst these, particularly plastic pollution and pollution through perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are growing areas of concern.^[xxii] Other polluters that harm aquatic life through direct discharge or runoff that flow into other bodies of water after rainfall include fertilizers, acids and toxic metals from mining, as well as medication from sewage.^[xxiii]

Plastic waste harms organisms when it is ingested. Plastics — also when broken down into microplastics — disrupt the growth and reproductive ability of fish.^[xxiv] Toxic waste, such as pesticides and insecticides from agricultural runoff, can furthermore interact with each other or other factors once released into the environment with unforeseen consequences. Going forward, it is therefore advised to monitor pesticides to account for unexpected risks once a chemical is released in the environment.^[xxv] Environmental scientists warn that even pesticides marketed as more effective in lower doses — but that are higher in toxicity — are likely to cause higher ecological damage.^[xxvi]

In line with this, the pollution of rivers, lakes, transitional and coastal waters through PFAS or so-called “forever chemicals” is increasing over time. There are around 10 000 different PFAS compounds, including the extremely persistent PFOS. The pollution of water through PFAS “can harm human health and the environment”.^[xxvii] PFAS exposure also decreases the survival rate of (aquatic) species.^[xxviii]

Overall, “only 29% of Europe’s waters achieved good chemical status over the 2015-2021 period”, according to a recent assessment from the European Environment Agency (EEA). A recent EEA study also “shows that most monitored rivers, transitional and coastal waters and a large part of lakes in Europe are polluted with at least one of the many extremely persistent chemical compounds that are deemed harmful for people and nature”. An analysis of data from 2022 showed that “59% of sites in rivers, 35% of sites in lakes, and 73% of sites in transitional and coastal waters [in Europe] exceeded the environmental quality standard for PFOS”.^[xxix]

What does species exploitation do to river biodiversity?

The exploitation of species is another driver of biodiversity loss. For example, in Yellow River, China’s second longest river, overfishing has been identified as the main threat to fish diversity in the river basin.^[xxx] To effectively protect biodiversity, the exploitation of species must firstly be managed. The Yellow River basin also shows how biodiversity loss often is a result of an interaction of multiple factors. Here, pollution from industrial activity has deteriorated water quality and the presence of non-native carp has led to the near extinction of the Yellow River carp.^[xxxi]

Fishing in oceans can also affect species in rivers. A key example of this is the fishing of salmon as bycatch in the sea, before they can migrate back to their home rivers.^[xxxii] It is, therefore, crucial to consider the (non-)intentional overexploitation of species across an entire hydrological system when addressing the decline of river biodiversity.

What can companies do to protect rivers?

Wetlands and riverine systems play a key role in protecting biodiversity, and they are therefore “central to any hopes of tackling the climate emergency facing our planet”.^[xxxiii] Despite this, on “a global scale, 70% of rivers occur outside protected areas and only 11.1% are protected in their entirety”.^[xxxiv] In practice, this means that steps need to be taken to ensure that bodies of water are (re)connected and that they are able to move freely. It also means that companies’ activities on land or connected bodies of water — such as the unintentional runoff of substances or how fishing in oceans affects species in rivers — must be considered and adequately managed.

Responsible companies aiming to contribute to positive change must take proactive steps to try and “reverse the decline of natural wetlands”.^[xxxv] The Emergency Recovery Plan by Tickner et al. sets out “six priority actions to curb freshwater biodiversity loss”. The recommended actions are: “1) Accelerating implementation of environmental flows, 2) Improving water quality, 3) Protecting and restoring critical habitats, 4) Managing exploitation of freshwater species and riverine aggregates, 5) Preventing and controlling non-native species invasions, and 6) Safeguarding and restoring river connectivity”.^[xxxvi]

In practice, this means that companies should ensure that water availability is managed, considering the connectivity of habitats, sediment flows, and natural movement of rivers. They should prevent chemicals from being released into the environment — or otherwise, carefully monitor these across entire hydrological systems. They should also closely monitor and manage the exploitation of species, as well as the broader effects this has on hydrological systems.^[xxxvii]

The next newsletter will explore Indigenous Peoples’ rights to water. If you want to be notified when it comes out, please subscribe below.

About the authors

Krisna Baghouzian is a freelance sustainability consultant at Palsa & Pulk. She has a background in governance and past experience in working on sustainability at a local government with a people-centered approach. In her work, Krisna likes to take a holistic view of sustainability — by touching on different aspects of sustainability and their impact on our Earth and its inhabitants.

Christine Nikander is the founder of the environmental and social sustainability consultancy, Palsa & Pulk. She frequently speaks and writes about the environmental and human rights issues that arise through global supply chains and the energy transition. Christine studied law at the universities of Columbia (New York), Edinburgh (Scotland), and Leiden (the Netherlands). She has been writing The E-Waste Column weekly since 2022.

About Palsa & Pulk

Palsa & Pulk is an environmental and social sustainability consultancy. It provides compliance, governance, policy, and strategic advice to its clients. The consultancy’s work is mostly focused on supply chain governance, the just transition, circular economy, and human rights.

Stay up to date

Our monthly newsletter is published here on Substack, on LinkedIn, and on our blog. Subscribe to be notified when our newsletters are published.

^[i] Rockstaröm et al., We need biosphere stewardship that protects carbon sinks and builds resilience (2021). https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.2115218118 (20.02.2025)

^[ii] European Central Bank (ECB), Occasional Paper Series No 333: Living in a world of disappearing nature: physical risk and the implications for financial stability (2023). https://www.ecb.europa.eu/pub/pdf/scpops/ecb.op333~1b97e436be.en.pdf (20.02.2025)

^[iii] Anuradha Kumari and Sarika, “Riverine biodiversity and importance: Potential threat and conservational challenges”, Chapter 13 of Ecological Significance of River Ecosystems Challenges and Management Strategies (2022). https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/B9780323850452000091 (20.02.2025)

^[iv] Wetlands International, Call for an ambitious Global Biodiversity Framework on World Wetlands Day 2020. https://www.wetlands.org/call-for-an-ambitious-global-biodiversity-framework-on-world-wetlands-day-2020/ (20.02.2025)

^[v] Wetlands International, Rivers and Lakes. https://www.wetlands.org/our-work/rivers-and-lakes/ (20.02.2025)

^[vi] Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES), Media Release: Nature’s Dangerous Decline ‘Unprecedented’; Species Extinction Rates ‘Accelerating’. https://www.ipbes.net/news/Media-Release-Global-Assessment (20.02.2025)

^[vii] Petersen et al., Incorporating free-flowing rivers into global biodiversity targets: Prioritization and targeted interventions to maintain ecological integrity (2022). https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/aqc.3898 (20.02.2025); Harvey et al., How Hydrologic Connectivity Regulates Water Quality in River Corridors (2019). https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/1752-1688.12691 (20.02.2025)

^[viii] Gianuca et al., River flow intermittence influence biodiversity-stability relationships across spatial scales: Implications for an uncertain future (2024). https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/39162046/ (20.02.2025)

^[ix] Fengzhi He et al., Hydropower impacts on riverine biodiversity (2024). https://www.nature.com/articles/s43017-024-00596-0 (20.02.2025)

^[x] Fengzhi He et al., Hydropower impacts on riverine biodiversity (2024). https://www.nature.com/articles/s43017-024-00596-0 (20.02.2025)

^[xi] Fengzhi He et al., Hydropower impacts on riverine biodiversity (2024). https://www.nature.com/articles/s43017-024-00596-0 (20.02.2025)

^[xii] Ric Hauer, Why river floodplains are key to preserving nature and biodiversity in the western US. https://theconversation.com/why-river-floodplains-are-key-to-preserving-nature-and-biodiversity-in-the-western-us-61839 (20.02.2025)

^[xiii] Fengzhi He et al., Hydropower impacts on riverine biodiversity (2024). https://www.nature.com/articles/s43017-024-00596-0 (20.02.2025)

^[xiv] Hauer et al., Gravel-bed river floodplains are the ecological nexus of glaciated mountain landscapes (2016). https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/sciadv.1600026 (20.02.2025)

^[xv] Save Polesia, The route of E40 waterway. https://savepolesia.org/the-threat/faq/ (20.02.2025)

^[xvi] Globevnik et al., ETC/ICM Report 5/2020: Preliminary assessment of river floodplain condition in Europe (2021). https://www.eionet.europa.eu/etcs/etc-icm/products/etc-icm-reports/preliminary-assessment-of-river-floodplain-condition-in-europe (20.02.2025)

^[xvii] Perosa et al., A meta-analysis of the value of ecosystem services of floodplains for the Danube River Basin (2021). https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0048969721011293 (20.02.2025)

^[xviii] European Environment Agency (EEA), Floodplains: a natural system to preserve and restore (2019). https://www.eea.europa.eu/en/analysis/publications/floodplains-a-natural-system-to-preserve-and-restore, p.5 (20.02.2025)

^[xix] Petersen et al., Incorporating free-flowing rivers into global biodiversity targets: Prioritization and targeted interventions to maintain ecological integrity (2022). https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/aqc.3898 (20.02.2025)

^[xx] Ric Hauer, Why river floodplains are key to preserving nature and biodiversity in the western US. https://theconversation.com/why-river-floodplains-are-key-to-preserving-nature-and-biodiversity-in-the-western-us-61839 (20.02.2025)

^[xxi] Petersen et al., Incorporating free-flowing rivers into global biodiversity targets: Prioritization and targeted interventions to maintain ecological integrity (2022). https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/aqc.3898 (20.02.2025)

^[xxii] European Environment Agency (EEA), ‘’Forever chemicals’ found above threshold levels in many water bodies in Europe. https://www.eea.europa.eu/en/newsroom/news/forever-chemicals-in-water-bodies (09.12.2024)

^[xxiii] Agrani Paudel, Water Pollution: Sources, Pollutants, Types, Effects, Prevention. https://microbenotes.com/water-pollution/ (20.02.2025)

^[xxiv] Wang et al., Meta-analysis of the effects of microplastic on fish: Insights into growth, survival, reproduction, oxidative stress, and gut microbiota diversity (2024). https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0043135424013927 (20.02.2025)

^[xxv] Vijver et al., Postregistration Monitoring of Pesticides is Urgently Required to Protect Ecosystems (2017). https://scholarlypublications.universiteitleiden.nl/access/item%3A2939208/view (20.02.2025)

^[xxvi] Tom Nederstigt and Martina G. Vijver, Nanotechnology promises to help farmers cut pesticide use – but could also make chemicals more toxic. https://theconversation.com/nanotechnology-promises-to-help-farmers-cut-pesticide-use-but-could-also-make-chemicals-more-toxic-223404 (20.02.2025)

^[xxvii] European Environment Agency (EEA), ’Forever chemicals’ found above threshold levels in many water bodies in Europe (2024). https://www.eea.europa.eu/en/newsroom/news/forever-chemicals-in-water-bodies (20.02.2025)

^[xxviii] Chambers et al., A review of per- and polyfluorinated alkyl substance impairment of reproduction (2021). https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/toxicology/articles/10.3389/ftox.2021.732436/full (22.11.2021)

^[xxix] European Environment Agency (EEA), ’Forever chemicals’ found above threshold levels in many water bodies in Europe (2024). https://www.eea.europa.eu/en/newsroom/news/forever-chemicals-in-water-bodies (20.02.2025)

^[xxx] Guo et al., Protect native fish in China’s Yellow River (2024). https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.adn7432 (20.02.2025)

^[xxxi] Guo et al., Protect native fish in China’s Yellow River (2024). https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.adn7432 (20.02.2025)

^[xxxii] Carla Roasch, Warming rivers and over-fishing leave native Alaskans facing 'salmon scarcity”. https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20240806-native-alaskans-facing-salmon-scarcity (20.02.2025)

^[xxxiii] Wetlands International, Call for an ambitious Global Biodiversity Framework on World Wetlands Day 2020. https://www.wetlands.org/call-for-an-ambitious-global-biodiversity-framework-on-world-wetlands-day-2020/ (20.02.2025)

^[xxxiv] Petersen et al., Incorporating free-flowing rivers into global biodiversity targets: Prioritization and targeted interventions to maintain ecological integrity (2022). https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/aqc.3898 (20.02.2025); Abell et al., Looking Beyond the Fenceline: Assessing Protection Gaps for the World's Rivers (2017). https://conbio.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/conl.12312 (20.02.2025); Perry et al., Global Analysis of Durable Policies for Free-Flowing River Protections (2021). https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/13/4/2347 (20.02.2025)

^[xxxv] Wetlands International, Call for an ambitious Global Biodiversity Framework on World Wetlands Day 2020. https://www.wetlands.org/call-for-an-ambitious-global-biodiversity-framework-on-world-wetlands-day-2020/ (20.02.2025)

^[xxxvi] Tickner et al., Bending the Curve of Global Freshwater Biodiversity Loss: An Emergency Recovery Plan (2020). https://www.researchgate.net/publication/338344940_Bending_the_Curve_of_Global_Freshwater_Biodiversity_Loss_-_An_Emergency_Recovery_Plan (20. 02.2025)

^[xxxvii] Tickner et al., Bending the Curve of Global Freshwater Biodiversity Loss: An Emergency Recovery Plan (2020). https://www.researchgate.net/publication/338344940_Bending_the_Curve_of_Global_Freshwater_Biodiversity_Loss_-_An_Emergency_Recovery_Plan (20. 02.2025); Gianuca et al., River flow intermittence influence biodiversity-stability relationships across spatial scales: Implications for an uncertain future (2024). https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/39162046/ (20.02.2025)

How can supply chains be made more transparent?

The mass consumption of products is considered “a major cause of climate change and pollution”. This means that by producing less or producing products in more sustainable ways, it is possible to reduce pollution and protect the climate.[i] One way of bringing transparency and some accountability into how sustainable products are, or are not, is by using supply chain tools, such as digital product passports (DPPs).

To be meaningful, the use of DPPs requires criteria — or some type of indicators or benchmarks — to be set for the sustainability of products. While there are countless ways to approach this, the European Commission holds that a product could be considered more sustainable if it, for example, “[u]ses less energy, [l]asts longer, [c]an be easily repaired, [p]arts can be easily disassembled and put to further use, [c]ontains fewer substances of concern, [c]an be easily recycled, [c]ontains more recycled content, [or] [h]as a lower carbon and environmental footprint over its lifecycle”.[ii]

What are digital product passports?

DPPs are in essence a type of “supply-chain tracker”. They make the outcomes of a life cycle analysis more accessible for both corporate buyers and end consumers.

Past examples of tools used to track supply chains in the EU include the plant passports found on potted plants and the pink codes printed on eggs. Plant passports have been used in the EU to “identify the origins of plants and plant products, ensuring traceability and compliance with plant health regulations” since 1993.[iii] Egg markings in the EU have been used since 2004. They consist of a code that tells you the farming method, the country of origin, and the exact premises where the egg was produced.[iv]

Currently, the EU is working on developing mandatory battery passports, which are a type of DPP. A battery passport is in essence “a digital record that documents where each part of a battery came from and evaluates its environmental and social impact”.[v] Battery passports provide an insight into the raw materials and components used to produce a battery. Typically, the battery composition, the origin of the materials and components, the proportion of recycled content used, and the carbon footprint of the production are covered. Optimally, the processing locations for critical raw materials, as well as any labour and human rights issues that may arise within the supply chain, are also included. The overall aim of battery passports is to improve sustainable and responsible procurement practices and to create more transparency in complex supply chains.[vi]

Regulatory requirements on environmental sustainability

There are several international efforts around battery passports currently underway, meaning that the passports may well become an international standard over time. While the U.S. currently has no specific regulation that requires battery passports, the passports could provide more “traceability to prove [batteries] qualify for EV subsidies under the Inflation Reduction Act”. The EU has set out specific requirements for the sustainability and supply chain traceability of batteries under the Batteries Regulation.[vii] By February 2027, battery passports will be mandatory for all EVs sold in the EU. The batteries for electric vehicles and many other industrial uses that are sold in the EU must then have “a QR code linking to details on its makeup, origin, and carbon footprint”.[viii]

Looking at products more broadly, the Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation (ESPR) has been in force in the EU since 18 July 2024. The regulation aims to make products on the EU market “more environmentally sustainable and circular”. The ESPR is a so-called “framework legislation”. This means that “concrete product rules will be decided progressively over time, on a product-by-product basis, or horizontally, on the basis of groups of products with similar characteristics”.[ix] On a high-level, the ESPR currently contains measures around digital product passports and green public procurement. It also includes rules “to address destruction of unsold consumer products”. The goal is to “improve the circularity, energy performance and other environmental sustainability aspects of products placed on the EU market”. The EU hopes the regulation will create incentives for “protecting our planet, fostering more sustainable business models and strengthening the overall competitiveness and resilience of the EU economy”.[x]

The ESPR applies to almost all categories of physical goods – with several exceptions, like food and feed. It will establish performance and information conditions or so-called “ecodesign requirements” for different product groups. Concretely, the ESPR will set out requirements to: “[i]mprove product durability, reusability, upgradability and reparability, [m]ake products more energy and resource-efficient, [a]ddress the presence of substances that inhibit circularity, [i]ncrease recycled content, [m]ake products easier to remanufacture and recycle, [s]et rules on carbon and environmental footprints, [and] [i]mprove the availability of information on product sustainability”. Under the regulation, similar requirements will be set on product groups that have similar characteristics.[xi]

The role of social impact under product passports

Under the EU Batteries Regulation, the mines involved in a battery’s supply chain, and the adverse impacts they have, must be identified. In line with this, well-designed DPPs should include information on Indigenous Peoples’ rights and adverse biodiversity impacts.

In this context, auditing becomes an important question. Over the past two decades, audits have been used by companies as evidence “that they have eliminated abuses in their supply chains”. Yet, there are currently still a lot of shortcomings in the quality of the work being done. An analysis of 40 000 audits by the Cornell professor, Sarosh Kuruvilla, in 2021 “found that nearly half had relied on forged or dubious documents”. Moreover, a New York Times “review of confidential audits conducted by several large firms shows that they have consistently missed child labor”.[xii]

The voluntary use of product passports

Some companies have already voluntarily taken considerable steps to improve their supply chain transparency and have also factored this into their design process. A few well-known examples include Fairphone, Patagonia, and Tony Chocoloney.[xiii]

There are, however, also numerous smaller startups that help trace and help manage supply chains. This even holds true for the food sector, which is exempt from the ESPR. A few examples include Palau, Reath, Freshflow, and GreenBytes.[xiv] Palau is an app that helps consumers understand the supply chains of food products and their impacts.[xv] Reath has set up a platform that creates “digital passports” for packaging items and tracks these throughout their lifecycle.[xvi] Freshflow uses artificial intelligence to trace food supply chains and to reduce food waste through “advanced order forecasting, replenishment, and inventory control”.[xvii] GreenBytes has created a restaurant management tool to reduce food waste, which uses “artificial intelligence to help restaurants optimize ordering, manage inventory, and break down menus”.[xviii]

Are digital product passports helpful and effective?

Overall, “evaluating the environmental and social costs of th[e] supply chain requires extensive information about every step in its production [such as if] mines exploited child labor, or how much fossil fuel was used to ship each part around the world”.[xix] The collection and verification of this information is not an easy task to do in practice.

That said, DPPs can provide consumers with valuable information. If executed well, DPPs can better inform end users on the materials of a product, and thereby help end users to — for example — make better purchasing decisions or recycle their products properly at the end of their lifecycle.[xx] Battery passports can, for example, be used to track “battery health over time” and are therefore particularly relevant for the used car market. Rather than merely having to base their decisions on milage, consumers buying used EVs can use battery passports to see “how the battery was cycled over its life”. The life cycle data and battery health included in battery passports can also improve battery recyclability.[xxi] If the battery passports are successful in the EU, similar requirements on “supply chain transparency and accountability could catch on elsewhere”.[xxii]

By shedding light into production chains, DPPs can hopefully move businesses and their design departments to truly make more sustainable choices. In line with this, more businesses and designers will hopefully take responsibility for the negative impacts brought about through their creations — instead of shifting the responsibility on consumers that lack the relevant data to inform their decision making.

Would you like to explore the life cycle of an electric vehicle battery further? Then have a look at Palsa & Pulk’s interactive visual.

The next newsletter will explore the importance of protecting biodiversity. If you want to be notified when it comes out, please subscribe below.

About the authors

Saskia Tykkyläinen is a freelance sustainability and strategy consultant at Palsa & Pulk. She studied industrial product design and business management. Saskia has extensive experience working with young growth firms and entrepreneurs in accelerator and education programs. In her consultancy work, Saskia takes on projects that design and build sustainable business practices.

Christine Nikander is the founder of the environmental and social sustainability consultancy, Palsa & Pulk. She studied law at the universities of Columbia (New York), Edinburgh (Scotland), and Leiden (the Netherlands). Christine was a member of the Fall 2021 “Design For Social Innovation” cohort at the Columbia Entrepreneurship Design Studio. She has been writing The E-Waste Column weekly since 2022 and focuses on supply chain governance in her work.

About Palsa & Pulk

Palsa & Pulk is an environmental and social sustainability consultancy. It provides compliance, governance, policy, and strategic advice to its clients. The consultancy’s work is mostly focused on supply chain governance, the just transition, circular economy, and human rights.

About The E-Waste Column

The E-Waste Column is a weekly column about e-waste, transition minerals, and critical raw materials. It touches on a range of topics including ESG, sustainable development, circular economy, EU law and policymaking, corporate social responsibility, the transition to renewable energy, the EU Green Deal, supply chain due diligence and auditing, human environmental rights, business and human rights, climate law, and corporate sustainability.

Stay up to date

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[i] https://www.theewastecolumn.com/database/circular-design-ecodesign/ecodesign-for-sustainable-products-regulation; https://commission.europa.eu/energy-climate-change-environment/standards-tools-and-labels/products-labelling-rules-and-requirements/sustainable-products/ecodesign-sustainable-products-regulation_en; https://green-business.ec.europa.eu/implementing-ecodesign-sustainable-products-regulation_en; https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/reg/2024/1781/oj; https://environment.ec.europa.eu/strategy/circular-economy-action-plan_en

[ii] https://www.theewastecolumn.com/database/circular-design-ecodesign/ecodesign-for-sustainable-products-regulation; https://commission.europa.eu/energy-climate-change-environment/standards-tools-and-labels/products-labelling-rules-and-requirements/sustainable-products/ecodesign-sustainable-products-regulation_en; https://green-business.ec.europa.eu/implementing-ecodesign-sustainable-products-regulation_en; https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/reg/2024/1781/oj; https://environment.ec.europa.eu/strategy/circular-economy-action-plan_en

[iii] https://www.efsa.europa.eu/en/plh4l/plant-passports#:~:text=A%20plant%20passport%20is%20a,compliance%20with%20plant%20health%20regulations.

[iv] https://www.gov.uk/guidance/egg-marketing-standards

[v] https://www.theewastecolumn.com/database/due-diligence-obligations/the-role-of-human-rights-auditing-in-a-just-transition; https://qz.com/battery-passport-sustainable-climate-tech-1851095928; https://www.business-humanrights.org/en/from-us/briefings/silicon-shadows-venture-capital-human-rights-and-the-lack-of-due-diligence/; https://www.nytimes.com/2023/12/28/us/migrant-child-labor-audits.html

[vi] https://www.theewastecolumn.com/database/battery-passports/volvo-s-ev-battery-passport; https://www.reuters.com/business/autos-transportation/volvo-issue-worlds-first-ev-battery-passport-ahead-eu-rules-2024-06-04/; https://www.wsj.com/articles/volvo-says-users-can-track-source-of-battery-metals-in-its-evs-54f6e4f7; https://www.nasdaq.com/articles/volvos-battery-passport-seeks-improve-ev-supply-chain-accountability

[vii] https://www.theewastecolumn.com/database/battery-passports/volvo-s-ev-battery-passport; https://www.reuters.com/business/autos-transportation/volvo-issue-worlds-first-ev-battery-passport-ahead-eu-rules-2024-06-04/; https://www.wsj.com/articles/volvo-says-users-can-track-source-of-battery-metals-in-its-evs-54f6e4f7; https://www.nasdaq.com/articles/volvos-battery-passport-seeks-improve-ev-supply-chain-accountability

[viii] https://www.theewastecolumn.com/database/due-diligence-obligations/the-role-of-human-rights-auditing-in-a-just-transition; https://qz.com/battery-passport-sustainable-climate-tech-1851095928; https://www.business-humanrights.org/en/from-us/briefings/silicon-shadows-venture-capital-human-rights-and-the-lack-of-due-diligence/; https://www.nytimes.com/2023/12/28/us/migrant-child-labor-audits.html

[ix] https://www.theewastecolumn.com/database/circular-design-ecodesign/ecodesign-for-sustainable-products-regulation; https://commission.europa.eu/energy-climate-change-environment/standards-tools-and-labels/products-labelling-rules-and-requirements/sustainable-products/ecodesign-sustainable-products-regulation_en; https://green-business.ec.europa.eu/implementing-ecodesign-sustainable-products-regulation_en; https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/reg/2024/1781/oj; https://environment.ec.europa.eu/strategy/circular-economy-action-plan_en

[x] https://www.theewastecolumn.com/database/circular-design-ecodesign/ecodesign-for-sustainable-products-regulation; https://commission.europa.eu/energy-climate-change-environment/standards-tools-and-labels/products-labelling-rules-and-requirements/sustainable-products/ecodesign-sustainable-products-regulation_en; https://green-business.ec.europa.eu/implementing-ecodesign-sustainable-products-regulation_en; https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/reg/2024/1781/ojL; https://environment.ec.europa.eu/strategy/circular-economy-action-plan_en

[xi] https://www.theewastecolumn.com/database/circular-design-ecodesign/ecodesign-for-sustainable-products-regulation; https://commission.europa.eu/energy-climate-change-environment/standards-tools-and-labels/products-labelling-rules-and-requirements/sustainable-products/ecodesign-sustainable-products-regulation_en; https://green-business.ec.europa.eu/implementing-ecodesign-sustainable-products-regulation_en; https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/reg/2024/1781/oj; https://environment.ec.europa.eu/strategy/circular-economy-action-plan_en

[xii] https://www.theewastecolumn.com/database/due-diligence-obligations/the-role-of-human-rights-auditing-in-a-just-transition; https://qz.com/battery-passport-sustainable-climate-tech-1851095928; https://www.business-humanrights.org/en/from-us/briefings/silicon-shadows-venture-capital-human-rights-and-the-lack-of-due-diligence/; https://www.nytimes.com/2023/12/28/us/migrant-child-labor-audits.html

[xiii] https://www.palsapulk.com/post/what-is-the-role-of-design-in-a-just-transition

[xiv] https://www.eu-startups.com/2022/06/10-europeans-startups-fueling-the-transition-to-a-circular-economy/; https://www.eu-startups.com/2023/09/turning-waste-into-wealth-10-promising-european-startups-tackling-the-food-waste-crisis/

[xv] https://www.palauproject.com/app

[xvi] https://www.eu-startups.com/2022/06/10-europeans-startups-fueling-the-transition-to-a-circular-economy/

[xvii] https://www.eu-startups.com/2023/09/turning-waste-into-wealth-10-promising-european-startups-tackling-the-food-waste-crisis/

[xviii] https://www.eu-startups.com/2023/09/turning-waste-into-wealth-10-promising-european-startups-tackling-the-food-waste-crisis/

[xix] https://www.theewastecolumn.com/database/due-diligence-obligations/the-role-of-human-rights-auditing-in-a-just-transition; https://qz.com/battery-passport-sustainable-climate-tech-1851095928; https://www.business-humanrights.org/en/from-us/briefings/silicon-shadows-venture-capital-human-rights-and-the-lack-of-due-diligence/; https://www.nytimes.com/2023/12/28/us/migrant-child-labor-audits.html

[xx] https://www.bbc.com/news/business-68283317

[xxi] https://www.theewastecolumn.com/database/battery-passports/volvo-s-ev-battery-passport; https://www.reuters.com/business/autos-transportation/volvo-issue-worlds-first-ev-battery-passport-ahead-eu-rules-2024-06-04/; https://www.wsj.com/articles/volvo-says-users-can-track-source-of-battery-metals-in-its-evs-54f6e4f7

[xxii] https://www.theewastecolumn.com/database/due-diligence-obligations/the-role-of-human-rights-auditing-in-a-just-transition; https://qz.com/battery-passport-sustainable-climate-tech-1851095928; https://www.business-humanrights.org/en/from-us/briefings/silicon-shadows-venture-capital-human-rights-and-the-lack-of-due-diligence/; https://www.nytimes.com/2023/12/28/us/migrant-child-labor-audits.html

Dependency on critical raw materials

The energy transition relies heavily on minerals needed for renewable technologies, electrification, and to build up battery capacity to store the produced renewable energy. Many of these minerals are mined in areas with “poor[er] infrastructure, sanitation or healthcare provisions, [or] unstable governance”. The mining can have adverse effects on workers, local and Indigenous communities, and the environment.[i]

The strong dependency on transition minerals to achieve net zero targets poses a number of issues. It is likely to add to geopolitical tensions and to place an additional strain on extraction areas. It may lead to compromises on human rights and environmental standards, and thereby increase the issues found in mineral supply chains. It could also slow down the transition to renewables and increase the cost for the transition – and even mean that net zero targets can no longer be met on time.[ii]

Adverse impacts of mining

The production of renewable energy technologies and batteries brings an array of environmental and human rights risks with it. For example, “some of the mining operations for raw materials like cobalt [used in batteries] are notorious for human rights violations, including child labor”.[iii]  Close to all mining causes a degree of damage to communities and ecosystems. The mining of transition minerals has already caused issues regarding – for example – water and land rights, and Indigenous People’s rights.[iv] According to the Business & Human Rights Resource Centre, there have been 630 allegations of human rights violations related to the extraction of transition minerals in 2010 to 2022.[v]

The contamination and scarcity of freshwater, along with changes in land use, are areas of major concern. Large amounts of water are needed for mining and mineral processing. Yet, a good half of all copper and lithium production sites worldwide are in areas facing “high water stress”. The inadequate management of water in mines (incl. high water use, low water reuse, and contaminated water discharges) can adversely impact water resources, and surrounding ecosystems and communities. Similarly, changes in land use and land cover can lead to communities being displaced and habitats being lost. Water and land contamination have occurred – for example – from a lithium mine in Jadar, Serbia and from an open-cast copper mine in Galicia, Spain.[vi]

The mining of gold and copper in the Amazon has polluted local water and food supplies, and it has added to the ongoing large-scale deforestation in the area. The mining has also increased the conflict between Indigenous Peoples, miners, and the military. Since 2011, on average three people in the Amazon have been killed per week trying to protect their land, according to a Global Witness report from October 2022. A quarter of the deaths were tied to the extractive industries and the mining industry was “directly linked to the most killings”. Notably, most of the individuals killed were Indigenous.[vii]

Conflict minerals in renewables

In many conflict areas or politically unstable regions – particularly in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and neighboring countries, the trade of minerals may be used to fund armed groups. This trading may be linked to corruption and money laundering, and it can cause human rights abuses. Conflict minerals can be found in electronics, cars, and jewelry. Tin, tungsten, tantalum, and gold – collectively referred to as “3TG” – are common conflict minerals.[viii]

Between 15% and 30% of the global supply of cobalt – needed to produce batteries – originates from the DRC. According to Amnesty International, children – as young as seven – work in artisanal cobalt mines in the DRC. The mining conditions are reportedly dangerous and hazardous, and the children work for low salaries.[ix]

More broadly, the extraction and trading of transition minerals can be tied to conflict, violence, and human rights abuses. For example, nickel extraction in Guatemala is linked to forced displacement, sexual violence, and murder. Moreover, considerable shares of the global transition mineral reserves are found in areas that are politically fragile, corrupt, or affected by conflict – such as the DRC, Afghanistan, Guinea, and Guatemala.[x]

To ensure sustainable development in the energy transition, supply chains for transition minerals should be governed in a transparent, responsible, and accountable manner. To this end, collaboration between the private sector, governments, civil society, and local communities is key. While there is a legal framework in place for 3TG minerals, most transition minerals (incl. cobalt, lithium, and bauxite) are not yet addressed. For all transition minerals, the potential risks of conflict and violence, health and safety violations, environmental damage, child and forced labor, and other human rights abuses need to be addressed.[xi]

Indigenous Peoples’ rights in mining

According to the UN, “Indigenous communities […] help to maintain 80% of the biodiversity left […], and [maintain] some of the world’s most valuable carbon sinks and natural resources.” Yet, over half of the “transition materials [are] located on or near land where Indigenous people live”. Moreover, “85% of […] lithium extraction projects [are] on or near land managed or inhabited by Indigenous people.”[xii]

Consequently, Indigenous Peoples are particularly strongly affected by transition mining. A 2021 report from MSCI Inc. found that “97% of nickel, 89% of copper, 79% of lithium and 68% of cobalt reserves and resources in the U.S. are located within 35 miles of Native American reservations”. As a result, violations of Indigenous Peoples’ rights have already occurred – for example – through the operation of an open-cast lithium mine near the Indigenous community lands of Fort McDermitt Paiute and Shoshone in Nevada, USA.[xiii]

According to the Autonomous University of Barcelona, mining is “the most common cause of environmental conflicts involving indigenous people”. Overall, “24.7% of [the] environmental conflict involving indigenous people” are caused by mining. Disputes of this sort have for example occurred in Quito, Ecuador. In total, 258 conflicts involving Indigenous People have been observed, but the “actual number […] is expected to be much higher” – largely due to “limited data coverage”. Notably, “an additional 7% of conflict cases involve other non-Indigenous place-based communities with long-term connections to their lands”.[xiv]

Labour issues in renewables

The processing of transition minerals and manufacturing of renewable technologies have also been linked to labour issues. For example, the Xinjiang region in the north-west of China is the source of 40-45% of global solar-grade polysilicon. Approximately 2.6 million Uyghur and Kazakh individuals have been subjected to coercion and confinement – as well as “re-education programs” – in this area. Consequently, the US government has designated polysilicon originating from China as a material that is likely to have been produced using forced or child labor.[xv]

As another example, the demand for balsa wood – used in turbine blades – has grown rapidly in light of the energy transition. This has reportedly led to substandard labor conditions for workers in the Amazon region of Ecuador, including payment in alcohol and/or drugs. The logging has also increased deforestation and negatively impacted the land rights of Indigenous Peoples in Peru.[xvi]

Ways forward

According to the Business & Human Rights Resource Centre, there is “a need for significant improvement in human rights commitment and practice across the [renewable energy] sector as a whole”. Their 2023 Renewable Energy & Human Rights Benchmark “assessed and scored the human rights policies and practices of 28 leading renewable energy supply chain firms across wind and solar project developers, oil and gas companies entering into renewables, and wind turbine and solar panel manufacturers”. The benchmark highlighted that the sector as a whole is currently “not ready to deliver a fair energy transition”. It “found that while the renewable energy sector has made progress in adopting broad human rights policies, it is falling woefully short in addressing the most salient human rights risks”. It also demonstrated that there are “notable gaps between policy and practice, and dangerous shortcomings on Indigenous Peoples’ rights, land rights, and forced labour”.[xvii]

To meet international climate objectives, the energy transition needs to occur quickly and on a large scale. This should however not come at the cost of labor rights, human rights, and the environment. We therefore need to put local communities and the environment at the center of the energy transition. Optimally, we would put in place a global regulatory framework which governs both large and small-scale mining activities well, is “inclusive of marginalised communities”, and defines clear minimum safety and environmental standards. Mining locally in high governance areas (such as the EU and the USA) could also prove helpful in this regard.[xviii]

As our societies transition over to renewable energies, our policymakers and judicial systems should not overlook the new human rights and environmental issues that this transition brings with it. In light of this, the Business & Human Rights Resource Centre has suggested that: “A more responsible and sustainable mining industry is urgently needed […] This can only happen if corporate and investor due diligence regarding human rights and environmental risks includes robust and effective participation of key stakeholders, including communities, to identify, monitor and mitigate risks that would undermine a fast and fair transition. It also requires community voices to be heard and considered, and the prioritisation of recycling and reuse of existing minerals to ease the demand for new minerals, including through incentivising and strengthening the circular economy.”[xix]

Would you be interested to learn more about human rights considerations in the life cycle of an electric vehicle battery? You can explore the social impacts and EU regulations that apply to the different life stages of an EV battery in Palsa & Pulk’s interactive visual.

The next newsletter will explore the role of digital product passports in creating a just transition. If you want to be notified when it comes out, please subscribe below.

About the author

Christine Nikander is the founder of the environmental and social sustainability consultancy, Palsa & Pulk. She frequently speaks and writes about the environmental and human rights issues that arise through global supply chains, the energy transition, and the mining of critical raw minerals. Christine studied law at the universities of Columbia (New York), Edinburgh (Scotland), and Leiden (the Netherlands). She has been writing The E-Waste Column weekly since 2022.

About Palsa & Pulk

Palsa & Pulk is an environmental and social sustainability consultancy. It provides compliance, governance, policy, and strategic advice to its clients. The consultancy’s work is mostly focused on supply chain governance, the just transition, circular economy, and human rights.

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[i] https://www.iea.org/reports/the-role-of-critical-minerals-in-clean-energy-transitions/mineral-requirements-for-clean-energy-transitions; https://theintelligentminer.com/2023/01/19/meeting-the-sustainable-development-goals-through-mining/; https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/wef23-mining-key-just-energy-transition-fair-cobalt-alliance/?trackingId=TNmwTnUHTw2hNORNtkYpjg%3D%3D; https://hannahritchie.substack.com/p/mining-low-carbon-vs-fossil; https://www.distilled.earth/p/a-fossil-fuel-economy-requires-535x?r=6q3e6&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web; https://www.trouw.nl/duurzaamheid-economie/zeldzame-metalen-ontdekt-in-zweden-europa-heeft-meer-mijnbouw-nodig~b76e0051/

[ii] https://www.business-humanrights.org/en/from-us/briefings/tmt-2021/you-cant-eat-lithium-community-consent-and-access-to-information-in-transition-mineral-mining-exploration-in-europe-and-north-america; https://www.iea.org/reports/the-role-of-critical-minerals-in-clean-energy-transitions; https://www.worldbank.org/en/topic/extractiveindustries/brief/climate-smart-mining-minerals-for-climate-action; https://irena.org/-/media/Files/IRENA/Agency/Technical-Papers/IRENA_Critical_Materials_2021.pdf

[iii] https://qz.com/battery-passport-sustainable-climate-tech-1851095928; https://www.business-humanrights.org/en/from-us/briefings/silicon-shadows-venture-capital-human-rights-and-the-lack-of-due-diligence/; https://www.nytimes.com/2023/12/28/us/migrant-child-labor-audits.html

[iv] https://www.business-humanrights.org/en/from-us/briefings/tmt-2021/you-cant-eat-lithium-community-consent-and-access-to-information-in-transition-mineral-mining-exploration-in-europe-and-north-america; https://climate.mit.edu/ask-mit/will-mining-resources-needed-clean-energy-cause-problems-environment; https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-020-18661-9; https://foreignpolicy.com/2022/02/07/renewable-energy-transition-critical-minerals-mining-onshoring-lithium-evs-climate-justice/; https://www.iea.org/reports/the-role-of-critical-minerals-in-clean-energy-transitions/sustainable-and-responsible-development-of-minerals; https://iea.blob.core.windows.net/assets/ffd2a83b-8c30-4e9d-980a-52b6d9a86fdc/TheRoleofCriticalMineralsinCleanEnergyTransitions.pdf; https://unctad.org/system/files/non-official-document/GCF21_s4_Laffont_1.pdf; https://www.msci.com/www/blog-posts/mining-energy-transition-metals/02531033947

[v] https://www.business-humanrights.org/en/from-us/transition-minerals-tracker/

[vi] https://www.business-humanrights.org/en/from-us/briefings/tmt-2021/you-cant-eat-lithium-community-consent-and-access-to-information-in-transition-mineral-mining-exploration-in-europe-and-north-america; https://climate.mit.edu/ask-mit/will-mining-resources-needed-clean-energy-cause-problems-environment; https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-020-18661-9; https://foreignpolicy.com/2022/02/07/renewable-energy-transition-critical-minerals-mining-onshoring-lithium-evs-climate-justice/; https://www.iea.org/reports/the-role-of-critical-minerals-in-clean-energy-transitions/sustainable-and-responsible-development-of-minerals; https://iea.blob.core.windows.net/assets/ffd2a83b-8c30-4e9d-980a-52b6d9a86fdc/TheRoleofCriticalMineralsinCleanEnergyTransitions.pdf; https://unctad.org/system/files/non-official-document/GCF21_s4_Laffont_1.pdf; https://www.msci.com/www/blog-posts/mining-energy-transition-metals/02531033947

[vii] https://amp-theguardian-com.cdn.ampproject.org/c/s/amp.theguardian.com/environment/2022/nov/29/evidence-grows-of-forced-labour-and-slavery-in-production-of-solar-panels-wind-turbines; https://gizmodo.com/over-half-the-worlds-energy-transition-minerals-are-on-1849865104; https://www.transportenvironment.org/discover/how-europe-can-improve-the-way-global-extractive-companies-do-business/

[viii] https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-030-39066-2_12; https://www.iisd.org/story/green-conflict-minerals/; https://www.iisd.org/publications/report/green-conflict-minerals-fuels-conflict-transition-low-carbon-economy; https://www.planetarysecurityinitiative.org/news/fuelling-conflict-impact-green-energy-transition-peace-and-security; https://mineral-choices.com/content/green-conflict-minerals/; https://www.researchgate.net/publication/342044011_Minerals_and_the_Metals_for_the_Energy_Transition_Exploring_the_Conflict_Implications_for_Mineral-Rich_Fragile_States

[ix] https://amp-theguardian-com.cdn.ampproject.org/c/s/amp.theguardian.com/environment/2022/nov/29/evidence-grows-of-forced-labour-and-slavery-in-production-of-solar-panels-wind-turbines; https://gizmodo.com/over-half-the-worlds-energy-transition-minerals-are-on-1849865104; https://www.transportenvironment.org/discover/how-europe-can-improve-the-way-global-extractive-companies-do-business/

[x] https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-030-39066-2_12; https://www.iisd.org/story/green-conflict-minerals/; https://www.iisd.org/publications/report/green-conflict-minerals-fuels-conflict-transition-low-carbon-economy; https://www.planetarysecurityinitiative.org/news/fuelling-conflict-impact-green-energy-transition-peace-and-security; https://mineral-choices.com/content/green-conflict-minerals/; https://www.researchgate.net/publication/342044011_Minerals_and_the_Metals_for_the_Energy_Transition_Exploring_the_Conflict_Implications_for_Mineral-Rich_Fragile_States

[xi] https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-030-39066-2_12; https://www.iisd.org/story/green-conflict-minerals/; https://www.iisd.org/publications/report/green-conflict-minerals-fuels-conflict-transition-low-carbon-economy; https://www.planetarysecurityinitiative.org/news/fuelling-conflict-impact-green-energy-transition-peace-and-security; https://mineral-choices.com/content/green-conflict-minerals/; https://www.researchgate.net/publication/342044011_Minerals_and_the_Metals_for_the_Energy_Transition_Exploring_the_Conflict_Implications_for_Mineral-Rich_Fragile_States

[xii] https://amp-theguardian-com.cdn.ampproject.org/c/s/amp.theguardian.com/environment/2022/nov/29/evidence-grows-of-forced-labour-and-slavery-in-production-of-solar-panels-wind-turbines; https://gizmodo.com/over-half-the-worlds-energy-transition-minerals-are-on-1849865104; https://www.transportenvironment.org/discover/how-europe-can-improve-the-way-global-extractive-companies-do-business/

[xiii] https://www.business-humanrights.org/en/from-us/briefings/tmt-2021/you-cant-eat-lithium-community-consent-and-access-to-information-in-transition-mineral-mining-exploration-in-europe-and-north-america; https://climate.mit.edu/ask-mit/will-mining-resources-needed-clean-energy-cause-problems-environment; https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-020-18661-9; https://foreignpolicy.com/2022/02/07/renewable-energy-transition-critical-minerals-mining-onshoring-lithium-evs-climate-justice/; https://www.iea.org/reports/the-role-of-critical-minerals-in-clean-energy-transitions/sustainable-and-responsible-development-of-minerals; https://iea.blob.core.windows.net/assets/ffd2a83b-8c30-4e9d-980a-52b6d9a86fdc/TheRoleofCriticalMineralsinCleanEnergyTransitions.pdf; https://unctad.org/system/files/non-official-document/GCF21_s4_Laffont_1.pdf; https://www.msci.com/www/blog-posts/mining-energy-transition-metals/02531033947

[xiv] https://www.mining-technology.com/news/mining-environmental-conflict-indigenous-people/;. https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/sciadv.ade9557

[xv] https://amp-theguardian-com.cdn.ampproject.org/c/s/amp.theguardian.com/environment/2022/nov/29/evidence-grows-of-forced-labour-and-slavery-in-production-of-solar-panels-wind-turbines; https://gizmodo.com/over-half-the-worlds-energy-transition-minerals-are-on-1849865104; https://www.transportenvironment.org/discover/how-europe-can-improve-the-way-global-extractive-companies-do-business/

[xvi] https://amp-theguardian-com.cdn.ampproject.org/c/s/amp.theguardian.com/environment/2022/nov/29/evidence-grows-of-forced-labour-and-slavery-in-production-of-solar-panels-wind-turbines; https://gizmodo.com/over-half-the-worlds-energy-transition-minerals-are-on-1849865104; https://www.transportenvironment.org/discover/how-europe-can-improve-the-way-global-extractive-companies-do-business/

[xvii] https://www.reuters.com/sustainability/society-equity/comment-renewable-energy-revolution-will-only-happen-time-if-no-one-is-left-2023-11-22/; https://www.esginvestor.net/live/renewables-sector-unprepared-to-provide-fair-transition-bhrrc/; https://www.business-humanrights.org/en/from-us/briefings/renewable-energy-benchmark-2023/

[xviii] https://www.iea.org/reports/the-role-of-critical-minerals-in-clean-energy-transitions/mineral-requirements-for-clean-energy-transitions; https://theintelligentminer.com/2023/01/19/meeting-the-sustainable-development-goals-through-mining/; https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/wef23-mining-key-just-energy-transition-fair-cobalt-alliance/?trackingId=TNmwTnUHTw2hNORNtkYpjg%3D%3D; https://hannahritchie.substack.com/p/mining-low-carbon-vs-fossil; https://www.distilled.earth/p/a-fossil-fuel-economy-requires-535x?r=6q3e6&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web; https://www.trouw.nl/duurzaamheid-economie/zeldzame-metalen-ontdekt-in-zweden-europa-heeft-meer-mijnbouw-nodig~b76e0051/

[xix] https://www.business-humanrights.org/en/from-us/briefings/tmt-2021/you-cant-eat-lithium-community-consent-and-access-to-information-in-transition-mineral-mining-exploration-in-europe-and-north-america; https://climate.mit.edu/ask-mit/will-mining-resources-needed-clean-energy-cause-problems-environment; https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-020-18661-9; https://foreignpolicy.com/2022/02/07/renewable-energy-transition-critical-minerals-mining-onshoring-lithium-evs-climate-justice/; https://www.iea.org/reports/the-role-of-critical-minerals-in-clean-energy-transitions/sustainable-and-responsible-development-of-minerals; https://iea.blob.core.windows.net/assets/ffd2a83b-8c30-4e9d-980a-52b6d9a86fdc/TheRoleofCriticalMineralsinCleanEnergyTransitions.pdf; https://unctad.org/system/files/non-official-document/GCF21_s4_Laffont_1.pdf; https://www.msci.com/www/blog-posts/mining-energy-transition-metals/02531033947

The nexus between Indigenous Peoples’ rights and forests

Logging, illegal mining, and cattle farming are core drivers for deforestation.[i] The deforestation of rainforests is increasing over time, and it often occurs within nature reserves or on Indigenous lands.[ii] A prime example of this issue is the Amazon forest, where the overall deforestation level is currently at 17%. The Amazon forest “is the largest tropical rainforest on Earth” and is considered a “stabilizer of the global climate”. It is also “home to a third of all species on Earth and a large percentage of the world's flowing freshwater”. Moreover, around four hundred different Indigenous Peoples call the Amazon forest home. Yet currently, both “[t]he forest and its inhabitants face serious threats from deforestation, resource theft, land grabbing and destructive development projects”.[iii]

Deforestation negatively impacts biodiversity and Indigenous groups globally. There are currently an estimated 370 million Indigenous People, living across 70 countries globally. [iv] Indigenous Peoples are believed to be the “best stewards” of forests.[v] According to the UN, “Indigenous communities […] help to maintain 80% of the biodiversity left […], and [maintain] some of the world’s most valuable carbon sinks and natural resources.”[vi] Moreover, “[t]he forests of the indigenous and tribal peoples’ territories store about 34,000 million metric tonnes of carbon”.[vii] Deforestation on protected territories in Brazil’s Amazon rainforest increased by 129% between 2013 and 2021, and thereby led to 96 million metric tons of CO₂ being released into the atmosphere.[viii]

Indigenous communities notably “have profound cultural and historical linkages to their ecosystems of forests”.[ix] For them, deforestation can mean “loss of traditional land, water contamination, air pollution, and threats to cultural identity”.[x] Moreover, deforestation also comes with a number of severe and even lethal risks to Indigenous Peoples – especially those who live in an otherwise “uncontacted, non-contacted or isolated” manner. For example, loggers can bring pathogens and diseases into the forests against which “uncontacted, non-contacted or isolated” peoples may have no immune resistance. In the worst case, this can lead to the death of a whole tribe or even several tribes. There is also always a risk of violence on both sides when loggers enter Indigenous lands.[xi]

Deforestation poses a threat to Indigenous Peoples’ “lifestyles, cultural identities, and physical and mental health”.[xii] In line with this, it is important to note that several groups of Indigenous Peoples in the Amazon rainforest consciously avoid contact with the outside world, as they have “already had negative experiences” in this context – such as having “their ancestral land […] violently taken away from them”.[xiii] The decision to live this way is something that should be respected by governments and companies alike.

Impact of deforestation on the Mashco Piro people

The Mashco Piro people are considered to be “the largest uncontacted tribe in the world”. They “usually avoid contact with the outside world” and “live in seclusion in the Peruvian rainforest”. Yet, over 50 of them have recently been seen “on a river in southeastern Peru, near a logging area” and they have asked villagers from Monte Salvado – located on the other side of the river – for bananas. An additional 17 Mashco Piro people were sighted close to the neighboring village of Puerto Nuevo. The Indigenous Yine people have said that the “Mashco Piro had previously complained about the loggers in their territory”.[xiv]

The land rights of the Mashco Piro have not been adequately “recognized and protected by law”. Instead, forestry concessions were sold by the government to logging companies. Notably, “one company has already built roads in the region with a total length of 200 kilometers”, which are being used to transport the felled trees and wood. In the case of the Mashco Piro, there is a serious risk that diseases introduced by loggers could wipe out the whole tribe and that violence could also break out.[xv]

Impact of deforestation on the Penan people

The island of Borneo in Malaysia is considered to be “one of the regions of the world with the greatest biological diversity”. The rainforests on Borneo “are home to a variety of plants and animals and a rich indigenous culture that has been shaped over centuries”.[xvi] These forests alone are estimated to be home to “6% of the world’s biodiversity”.[xvii] Since the early 1970s, the rainforest has, however, seen a considerable amount of deforestation.[xviii]

A large part of the Borneo rainforest has been cleared to make space for palm oil and timber plantations, as well as logging roads. Currently, roughly “10% of Borneo has become covered in industrial-scale monoculture plantations”. This has negatively impacted the Penan tribe, who rely on the woodlands for shelter, food, and their cultural practices. Due to deforestation, the Penan people now “no longer have access to their traditional resources”. This, in turn, “causes food poverty and a loss of cultural identity”.[xix]

For over 30 years, the Penan have continuously struggled “for the survival of their forest and their way of life”.[xx] They have accused the Malay government of approving timber concessions in Borneo without attaining community consent. The Penan are, hence, effectively up against “one of the world’s biggest timber companies with little help from state authorities”. Over the years, they have erected several blockades to hold off logging operations.[xxi]

How does mining cause deforestation?

Open-pit or opencast mining is the most common method for mining globally. Along with other types of mining, it can cause deforestation, habitat loss, and the loss of biodiversity.[xxii] This type of mining often results in large-scale land destruction.[xxiii] One example of this is the Escondida copper mine in the Atacama Desert in Chile, which is about 18 km long in the north-south direction and 3 km in the east-west direction.[xxiv] Through opencast mining, the terrain is permanently altered and hydrological conditions change. In some cases, water and soil can be polluted and effect a much larger area than the actual mining area.[xxv]

Mining also causes the construction of settlements and infrastructure, which results in more losses of forests. Since 2000, forest loss is especially significant in Brazil, Peru, Colombia, Venezuela, Indonesia, Russia, Canada, the US, Australia, Ghana, and Myanmar. In many of these countries, mining does not even stop the downgrading and downsizing of nature reserves or national parks. The downgrading and downsizing of protected land has impacted approximately 1300 million hectares (321 million acres). In Brazil alone, 219 mining claims extend into protected areas.[xxvi]

Mineral extraction in tropical rainforests is on the rise. A major cause of this is the mining of gold and coal. In the last two decades alone, this has caused around 6877 square kilometers (4273 square miles) of forest loss – and this might increase further with the rising demand for critical minerals.[xxvii]

How does mining impact Indigenous Peoples’ rights?

Indigenous Peoples are particularly strongly affected by transition mining. Mining “impose[s] burdens such as land dispossession, biodiversity loss, surface water pollution, livelihood loss and soil degradation” on Indigenous Peoples.^[xxviii] Notably, over half of the “transition materials [are] located on or near land where Indigenous people live”. Moreover, “85% of […] lithium extraction projects [are] on or near land managed or inhabited by Indigenous people.”[xxix] A 2021 report from MSCI Inc. found that “97% of nickel, 89% of copper, 79% of lithium and 68% of cobalt reserves and resources in the U.S. are located within 35 miles of Native American reservations”. [xxx]

Violations of Indigenous Peoples’ rights occur – for example – through the operation of an open-cast lithium mine near the Indigenous community lands of Fort McDermitt Paiute and Shoshone in Nevada, USA.[xxxi] Another example is the Oak Flat copper mine case, where “loss of biodiversity, soil contamination, deforestation and decreasing water quality” is feared and yet a land swap was planned so the mine could “be built on a site of religious significance for local indigenous groups”.^[xxxii]

Moreover, the mining of gold and copper in the Amazon has polluted local water and food supplies, and it has added to the ongoing large-scale deforestation in the area. The mining has also increased the conflict between Indigenous Peoples, miners, and the military. Since 2011, on average three people in the Amazon have been killed per week trying to protect their land, according to a Global Witness report from October 2022. A quarter of the deaths were tied to the extractive industries and the mining industry was “directly linked to the most killings”. Notably, most of the individuals killed were Indigenous.[xxxiii]

Indigenous Peoples’ core role in the just transition

There can be no just transition without the protection of Indigenous Peoples’ rights. Indigenous Peoples play a vital role in “biodiversity conservation and sustainable land management”. Companies and governments looking to protect forests should therefore take active steps towards “empowering and involving indigenous populations” and including their voices in decision-making.[xxxiv]

The protection of our forests and the creation of a just transition “requires a collective commitment on the part of governments, organisations, and individuals to uphold human rights, respect cultural heritage, and promote sustainable practi[c]es that guarantee the harmonious coexistence of humanity and nature”. Only by “working together and taking responsibility” is it possible to build a sustainable and just future.[xxxv] In this context, conducting thorough environmental impact assessments and attaining free and prior informed consent (FPIC) is key.

Without adequate measures to protect and respect Indigenous Peoples’ rights and “particularly their right to self-determination” and to FPIC, there is a risk of “exacerbating existing conflicts between [businesses] and Indigenous Peoples communities”. This can, in turn, “increas[e] legal and operational risks for both states and industries”. In the worst case, “the pace of the energy transition – and the energy transition itself – [may be] at risk due to the potential loss of [a] Social License to Operate and social unrest”.[xxxvi]

Would you be interested to learn more about human rights considerations in the life cycle of an electric vehicle battery? You can explore the social impacts and EU regulations that apply to the different life stages of an EV battery in Palsa & Pulk’s interactive visual.

The next newsletter will explore broader human rights issues that arise in the context of the energy transition. If you want to be notified when it comes out, please subscribe below.

About the authors

Christine Nikander is the founder of the environmental and social sustainability consultancy, Palsa & Pulk. She frequently speaks and writes about the environmental and human rights issues that arise through global supply chains, the energy transition, and the mining of critical raw minerals. Christine studied law at the universities of Columbia (New York), Edinburgh (Scotland), and Leiden (the Netherlands). She has been writing The E-Waste Column weekly since 2022.

Heidrun Kordholste-Nikander is a freelance biodiversity & forestry consultant at Palsa & Pulk. She studied forest management and environmental protection technology in Munich (Germany) and North American studies in Helsinki (Finland). In the past, Heidrun has done research into natural history, Indigenous Peoples, and environmental change. She has also published a book on the near destruction of the bison and the grasslands of North America. Through her consultancy work, Heidrun hopes to help companies in protecting forests, biodiversity, and Indigenous Peoples’ rights.

About Palsa & Pulk

Palsa & Pulk is an environmental and social sustainability consultancy. It provides compliance, governance, policy, and strategic advice to its clients. The consultancy’s work is mostly focused on supply chain governance, the just transition, circular economy, and human rights.

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[i] Gonzales, Jenny: Study confirms surge in deforestation in Indigenous lands under Bolsonaro. https://news.mongabay.com/2023/07/study-confirms-surge-in-deforestation-in-indigenous-lands-under-bolsonaro/ (05.11.2024)

[ii] Westdeutscher Rundfunk: Kein Kontakt zur Außenwelt: Isoliertes Volk in Peru gesichtet. https://www1.wdr.de/unkontaktiertes-volk-in-peru-aufgetaucht-100.html (05.11.2024)

[iii] Amazon Watch: Den Amazonas und unser Klima in Solidarität mit indigenen Völkern schützen. https://amazonwatch.org/de/work (05.11.2024)

[iv] Kanungo, Alokya: The Silent Cry of the Forest: How Deforestation Impacts Indigenous Communities. https://earth.org/the-silent-cry-of-the-forest-how-deforestation-impacts-indigenous-communities/ (05.11.2024)

[v] Amazon Watch: Den Amazonas und unser Klima in Solidarität mit indigenen Völkern schützen. https://amazonwatch.org/de/work (05.11.2024)

[vi] Morton, Adam: Evidence grows of forced labour and slavery in production of solar panels, wind turbines. https://amp-theguardian-com.cdn.ampproject.org/c/s/amp.theguardian.com/environment/2022/nov/29/evidence-grows-of-forced-labour-and-slavery-in-production-of-solar-panels-wind-turbines (05.11.2024); Taft, Molly: Over Half the World’s Energy Transition Minerals Are on Indigenous Lands. https://gizmodo.com/over-half-the-worlds-energy-transition-minerals-are-on-1849865104 (05.11.2024); European Federation for Transport and Environment: How Europe can improve the way global extractive companies do business. https://www.transportenvironment.org/discover/how-europe-can-improve-the-way-global-extractive-companies-do-business/ (05.11.2024)

[vii] Kanungo, Alokya: The Silent Cry of the Forest: How Deforestation Impacts Indigenous Communities. https://earth.org/the-silent-cry-of-the-forest-how-deforestation-impacts-indigenous-communities/ (05.11.2024)

[viii] Gonzales, Jenny: Study confirms surge in deforestation in Indigenous lands under Bolsonaro. https://news.mongabay.com/2023/07/study-confirms-surge-in-deforestation-in-indigenous-lands-under-bolsonaro/ (05.11.2024)

[ix] Kanungo, Alokya: The Silent Cry of the Forest: How Deforestation Impacts Indigenous Communities. https://earth.org/the-silent-cry-of-the-forest-how-deforestation-impacts-indigenous-communities/ (05.11.2024)

[x] Kanungo, Alokya: The Silent Cry of the Forest: How Deforestation Impacts Indigenous Communities. https://earth.org/the-silent-cry-of-the-forest-how-deforestation-impacts-indigenous-communities/ (05.11.2024)

[xi] Westdeutscher Rundfunk: Kein Kontakt zur Außenwelt: Isoliertes Volk in Peru gesichtet. https://www1.wdr.de/unkontaktiertes-volk-in-peru-aufgetaucht-100.html (05.11.2024)

[xii] Kanungo, Alokya: The Silent Cry of the Forest: How Deforestation Impacts Indigenous Communities. https://earth.org/the-silent-cry-of-the-forest-how-deforestation-impacts-indigenous-communities/ (05.11.2024)

[xiii] Westdeutscher Rundfunk: Kein Kontakt zur Außenwelt: Isoliertes Volk in Peru gesichtet. https://www1.wdr.de/unkontaktiertes-volk-in-peru-aufgetaucht-100.html (05.11.2024)

[xiv] Westdeutscher Rundfunk: Kein Kontakt zur Außenwelt: Isoliertes Volk in Peru gesichtet. https://www1.wdr.de/unkontaktiertes-volk-in-peru-aufgetaucht-100.html (05.11.2024); https://www.prosieben.de/serien/newstime/news/unkontaktierte-indigene-in-peru-nahe-abholzungsgebiet-gesichtet-407898 (05.11.2024)

[xv] Westdeutscher Rundfunk: Kein Kontakt zur Außenwelt: Isoliertes Volk in Peru gesichtet. https://www1.wdr.de/unkontaktiertes-volk-in-peru-aufgetaucht-100.html (05.11.2024);

Pro Sieben: Unkontaktierte Indigene in Peru nahe Abholzungsgebiet gesichtet. https://www.prosieben.de/serien/newstime/news/unkontaktierte-indigene-in-peru-nahe-abholzungsgebiet-gesichtet-407898 (05.11.2024)

[xvi] Bruno-Manser-Fonds: The Penan. https://bmf.ch/en/topics/the-penan-20 (05.11.2024)

[xvii]  Brunei Darussalam–Indonesia–Malaysia–Philippines East ASEAN Growth Area: Saving the Heart of Borneo. https://bimp-eaga.asia/article/saving-heart-borneo (05.11.2024); Planète Urgence: Preserving forests, Borneo-Mekong Basin. https://planete-urgence.org/en/borneo-mekong-basin/ (05.11.2024)

[xviii] David L. A. Gaveau, Sean Sloan, Elis Molidena, Husna Yaen, Doug Sheil, Nicola K. Abram, Marc Ancrenaz, Robert Nasi, Marcela Quinones, Niels Wielaard, Erik Meijaard: Four Decades of Forest Persistence, Clearance and Logging on Borneo. https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0101654 (05.11.2024)

[xix] Kanungo, Alokya: The Silent Cry of the Forest: How Deforestation Impacts Indigenous Communities. https://earth.org/the-silent-cry-of-the-forest-how-deforestation-impacts-indigenous-communities/ (05.11.2024)

[xx] Bruno-Manser-Fonds: The Penan. https://bmf.ch/en/topics/the-penan-20 (05.11.2024)

[xxi] Donald, Rachel: Malaysia’s Indigenous Penan block roads to stop logging in Borneo. https://news.mongabay.com/2021/10/malaysias-indigenous-penan-block-roads-to-stop-logging-in-borneo/ (05.11.2024)

[xxii] European Environment Agency: Biodiversity – Ecosystems, published on 18 Jun 2008, last modified 10 Feb 2020
https://www.eea.europa.eu/themes/biodiversity/intro (22.01.2024)

[xxiii] Yuan Gao, Jinman Wang, Nin Zhang, Sijia Li: Measurement and prediction of land use conflict in an opencast mining area. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0301420721000167 (25.04.2024)

[xxiv] Lind, Veronica: Heap Leaching: Is it something that could be an alternative to conventional gold extraction? https://www.samso.com.au/post/heap-leaching-is-it-something-that-could-be-an-alternative-to-conventional-gold-extraction-insights (05.11.2024)

[xxv] Yuan Gao, Jinman Wang, Nin Zhang, Sijia Li: Measurement and prediction of land use conflict in an opencast mining area. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0301420721000167 (25.04.2024)

[xxvi] Radwin, Maxwwell: Mongabay News & inspiration from nature’s frontline; Mining may contribute to deforestation more than previously thought, report says. https://news.mongabay.com/2023/04/mining-may-contribute-to-deforestation-more-than-previously-thought-report-says/ (20.04.2024)

[xxvii] Radwin, Maxwwell: Mongabay News & inspiration from nature’s frontline; Mining may contribute to deforestation more than previously thought, report says. https://news.mongabay.com/2023/04/mining-may-contribute-to-deforestation-more-than-previously-thought-report-says/ (20.04.2024)

[xxviii] Donaldson, Alex: Mining causes 24.7% of environmental conflict involving indigenous people. https://www.mining-technology.com/news/mining-environmental-conflict-indigenous-people/ (05.11.2024); Arnim Scheidel et al.: Global impacts of extractive and industrial development projects on Indigenous Peoples’ lifeways, lands, and rights. https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/sciadv.ade9557 (05.11.2024)

[xxix] Morton, Adam: Evidence grows of forced labour and slavery in production of solar panels, wind turbines. https://amp-theguardian-com.cdn.ampproject.org/c/s/amp.theguardian.com/environment/2022/nov/29/evidence-grows-of-forced-labour-and-slavery-in-production-of-solar-panels-wind-turbines (05.11.2024); Taft, Molly: Over Half the World’s Energy Transition Minerals Are on Indigenous Lands. https://gizmodo.com/over-half-the-worlds-energy-transition-minerals-are-on-1849865104 (05.11.2024); European Federation for Transport and Environment: How Europe can improve the way global extractive companies do business. https://www.transportenvironment.org/discover/how-europe-can-improve-the-way-global-extractive-companies-do-business/ (05.11.2024)

[xxx] Block, Samuel: Mining Energy-Transition Metals: National Aims, Local Conflicts. https://www.msci.com/www/blog-posts/mining-energy-transition-metals/02531033947 (05.11.2024)

[xxxi] Business & Human Rights Resource Centre: “You can’t eat lithium”: Community consent and access to information in transition mineral mining exploration. https://www.business-humanrights.org/en/from-us/briefings/tmt-2021/you-cant-eat-lithium-community-consent-and-access-to-information-in-transition-mineral-mining-exploration-in-europe-and-north-america (05.11.2024); Iris Crawford, Scott Odell: Will mining the resources needed for clean energy cause problems for the environment? https://climate.mit.edu/ask-mit/will-mining-resources-needed-clean-energy-cause-problems-environment (05.11.2024); Éléonore Lèbre, Martin Stringer, Kamila Svobodova, John R. Owen, Deanna Kemp, Claire Côte, Andrea Arratia-Solar, Rick K. Valenta: The social and environmental complexities of extracting energy transition metals. https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-020-18661-9 (05.11.2024); Riofrancos, Thea: Shifting Mining From the Global South Misses the Point of Climate Justice. https://foreignpolicy.com/2022/02/07/renewable-energy-transition-critical-minerals-mining-onshoring-lithium-evs-climate-justice/ (05.11.2024); International Energy Agency: Sustainable and responsible development of minerals. https://www.iea.org/reports/the-role-of-critical-minerals-in-clean-energy-transitions/sustainable-and-responsible-development-of-minerals (05.11.2024); International Energy Agency: The Role of Critical Minerals in Clean Energy Transitions. https://iea.blob.core.windows.net/assets/ffd2a83b-8c30-4e9d-980a-52b6d9a86fdc/TheRoleofCriticalMineralsinCleanEnergyTransitions.pdf (05.11.2024); Laffont, Pascal: Critical minerals for clean energy transitions. https://unctad.org/system/files/non-official-document/GCF21_s4_Laffont_1.pdf (05.11.2024)

[xxxii] Donaldson, Alex: Mining causes 24.7% of environmental conflict involving indigenous people. https://www.mining-technology.com/news/mining-environmental-conflict-indigenous-people/ (05.11.2024)

[xxxiii] Morton, Adam: Evidence grows of forced labour and slavery in production of solar panels, wind turbines. https://amp-theguardian-com.cdn.ampproject.org/c/s/amp.theguardian.com/environment/2022/nov/29/evidence-grows-of-forced-labour-and-slavery-in-production-of-solar-panels-wind-turbines (05.11.2024); Taft, Molly: Over Half the World’s Energy Transition Minerals Are on Indigenous Lands. https://gizmodo.com/over-half-the-worlds-energy-transition-minerals-are-on-1849865104 (05.11.2024); European Federation for Transport and Environment: How Europe can improve the way global extractive companies do business. https://www.transportenvironment.org/discover/how-europe-can-improve-the-way-global-extractive-companies-do-business/ (05.11.2024)

[xxxiv] Kanungo, Alokya: The Silent Cry of the Forest: How Deforestation Impacts Indigenous Communities. https://earth.org/the-silent-cry-of-the-forest-how-deforestation-impacts-indigenous-communities/ (05.11.2024)

[xxxv] Kanungo, Alokya: The Silent Cry of the Forest: How Deforestation Impacts Indigenous Communities. https://earth.org/the-silent-cry-of-the-forest-how-deforestation-impacts-indigenous-communities/ (05.11.2024)

[xxxvi] Cultural Survival, Securing Indigenous Rights in the Green Economy Coalition: EU’s Legislation on Critical Raw Materials Risks Increasing Threats to Indigenous Peoples from Mining Projects. https://www.culturalsurvival.org/news/eus-legislation-critical-raw-materials-risks-increasing-threats-indigenous-peoples-mining (05.11.2024)

What biodiversity is there in forests?

Healthy forests are hubs for biodiversity. They are considered to be “one of the most biologically rich terrestrial systems”. The biodiversity found in forests includes a “multitude of plants, animals and microorganisms that inhabit [the] forest areas”, as well as “their associated genetic diversity”. Over two-thirds of the terrestrial species on Earth are found in “tropical, temperate and boreal forests”.[i] More specifically, it is estimated that our global forests contain 60 000 different tree species and are home to 80% of the amphibian species, 75% of the bird species, and 68% of the mammal species on Earth.[ii]

While there is a lot of diversity in untouched virgin forests, the situation is completely different in commercial forests. Forests used for commercial purposes are managed by humans to produce wood for fuel, paper, packaging material, furniture, and building materials. Such forests often consist of very few different tree species. This may sometimes be just one species over a large area, and sometimes the species planted are not native to the area. Often times, all the trees are planted and harvested at the same time. These commercial forests can absorb less climate-damaging CO₂ than untouched virgin forests. In addition, these monocultures are vulnerable to calamities.[iii]

Impact of deforestation on biodiversity and the climate

Deforestation occurs for a number of reasons. It can result from “[t]he conversion of forests to agricultural land, overgrazing, unmitigated shifting cultivation, unsustainable forest management, introduction of invasive alien plant and animal species, infrastructure development, mining and oil exploitation, human-induced forest fires, pollution and climate change”. All of these large-scale changes take a considerable “toll on forest biodiversity”.[iv] That said, even smaller changes to forests can have a huge effect on biodiversity.[v]

Many crucial species of fungi might be lost within the next decades as a result of forest habitat loss.[vi] Notably, as old growth forests disappear, so does the mycelium in these habitats. The mycelia in the underground of forests build a network comparable to the internet to exchange nutrients, water, and information. Through a symbiotic process called mycorrhiza, the mycelia absorb sugar from trees’ roots as a part of an exchange of minerals with the trees. Without the mycorrhiza network, trees would not be able to store carbon, to create oxygen, or to inform each other about danger – like predators or pathogenic microbes.[vii]

Notably, more diverse forests – with “more different species with individual genetic codes” living in them – are better at coping with environmental and climate change. In line with this, “[n]atural forests are one of the most important and stable stores of carbon” and deforestation is “estimated to contribute as much as 20% to global annual greenhouse gas emissions”.[viii]

It is also worth noting that forests provide a multitude of other ecosystem services. Over three-quarters of “accessible fresh water [globally] comes from forested catchments”. Forests are the source for many traditional medicines, which large populations in developing countries rely on.[ix] Forests also provide firewood, wild food, and resources for peoples’ livelihoods for over 90% of those living in extreme poverty. Overall, forests are estimated to “provide more than 86 million green jobs”.[x]

Biodiversity protection & reforestation under EU laws

Over the past 8000 years, around 45% of the original forest cover has disappeared globally. Notably, most of this original forest cover has been cleared and lost in this past century alone.[xi] Currently, China and the US are responsible for 30% of the global deforestation annually and the European Union for around 14%.[xii]

According to the not-for-profit initiative Trase (founded by the Stockholm Environment Institute and Global Canopy), the direct imports of the EU effectively exposed it to a yearly average of 190 500 hectares of deforestation, in the time frame from 2019 to 2021. For reference, the area deforested yearly is ten times greater than the size of Brussels. The EU’s deforestation occurred mostly (61% altogether) in Côte d’Ivoire (19.9%), Brazil (16.0%), Indonesia (11.6%), Ghana (8.7%) and Malaysia (4.7%). The EU commodities that caused the most deforestation (84% altogether) “were cocoa (33.7%), oil palm products (19.3%), coffee (13.0%), soy (9.2%), and cattle products (8.9%)”.[xiii]

As it is not possible to “protect the Earth’s biodiversity without protecting our forest”, action to halt deforestation needs to be taken urgently.[xiv] Over the course of the past few years, the EU has therefore enacted several new laws that aim to help prevent or reverse global deforestation and habitat loss trends. The most significant amongst these include the EU’s Nature Restoration Law, the Regulation on Deforestation-free Products (EUDR), and the Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD). While the Nature Restoration Law sets binding targets on EU member states to restore ecosystems, the EUDR and CSDDD require companies to carry out due diligence and risk assessments.

Conducting due diligence & improving company policies

The EUDR aims to make sure that “the products EU citizens consume do not contribute to deforestation or forest degradation worldwide”.[xv] Under its mandatory due diligence requirements, companies must collect and provide detailed information on their raw materials, the origin countries and suppliers, as well as the relevant quantities. They must collect specific data and information on the geolocation of where their materials are cultivated or sourced – and where their products are manufactured. To be able to place materials or products on the EU market, companies need evidence of the “deforestation-free” status of these. Additionally, they must be able to show that they are in compliance with relevant national or local laws.[xvi]

To comply with the EUDR, companies have to develop strategies, controls, and procedures to adequately mitigate risks and adapt to new developments. Depending on the outcomes of the due diligence, taking both risk assessment and risk mitigation measures may be necessary. Overall, companies are expected to review and update their compliance policies annually. Notably, large companies must publicly disclose the measures they have implemented, along with their risk assessments.[xvii]

The EUDR also places several other reporting requirements on companies. Amongst others, large companies have to disclose all necessary information to show that they have carried out the required due diligence and to demonstrate that there was “no more than a negligible risk” found. Companies must provide due diligence declarations to their competent national authority and the reference numbers of these statements to others in their downward supply chains. To improve transparency, authorities, traders, and partially the general public will be able to access these statements. All relevant records must be kept for five years.[xviii]

Why is due diligence alone not enough?

Despite the enactment of the EUDR and the CSDDD, there is a real risk that the EU could “merely becom[e] a niche market, while tropical forest loss for the most part [c]ould continue unabated”.[xix] In line with this, Trase warns that companies “should not treat traceability as a silver bullet”, but that they “must think bigger to tackle deforestation”.[xx] This also means that “additional measures are needed” to make sure that the due diligence obligations under the EUDR or the CSDDD “translat[e] into actual reductions in deforestation on the ground”.[xxi]

A key issue, according to Trase, is that “while commodities linked to deforestation may be removed from the EU’s supply chain”, they may still be “sent to countries without these environmental regulations or consumed domestically”. If this is the case, there is “little benefit” to conducting the due diligence and more broadly, to having the EUDR or the CSDDD in place. As a real-life example, it is already known that “Brazil’s exporters […] sell soy to Denmark and Norway that is four-times less exposed to deforestation than soy sent to China or used domestically”.[xxii]

It is, however, possible for companies to help to tackle these issues by going beyond mere due diligence and building “meaningful partnerships with producer[s]”.[xxiii] While companies “cannot just rely on traceability as a solution”, they can “act at multiple levels, not just on farms but across whole landscapes” through “multi-stakeholder efforts” to have a meaningful impact.[xxiv]

Using different tools and “policy instruments such as agricultural cooperation, development aid and incentives for the promotion of sustainable value chains – including those around the bioeconomy or novel products that spur local economic development while keeping forests standing” is one potential avenue that companies can take. On a more practical level, companies could also “engage more strategically to support activities such as sustainable land uses by smallholders, SMEs and indigenous peoples that can hedge against deforestation, but which often fail due to lack of economic or technical support”.[xxv]

In this context, it is key to note that forests globally have become incredibly fragmented. Of the global forest area, 20% are “located in more than 34 million patches across the world”. The vast majority of these patches have a size that is smaller than 1000 hectares. The fragmentation of forests sadly also means that the forests’ genetic diversity is split up and cannot interact. In line with this, cooperation  across sectors and countries is “needed to restore degraded and damaged forest ecosystems”.[xxvi]

Circular and regenerative forestry practices

There are a number of ways that companies can contribute to protecting forests and biodiversity throughout their operations. Both circular and regenerative measures can play a significant role here. Not planting monocultures, leaving stripes of older forest standing when harvesting trees, reforesting lands with native species, and creating permacultures are all more obvious examples of more sustainable – or even regenerative – forestry practices.

Examples of circular solutions directly applicable to forestry, wood, and paper companies include using better wood harvesting technologies to reduce the waste produced in the wood harvesting process, recycling or upcycling wood and paper waste products, or simply making sure less products and materials from forests or deforested areas are used. More broadly, businesses across all different sectors can take a variety of circular actions to halt and reverse biodiversity loss. The Finnish Innovation Fund Sitra recently outlined six broader circular business models, with examples from practice, in a handbook they published in April 2024.[xxvii] This acts as a good source of inspiration for circular ideas and steps to start taking as a company.

The EUDR, CSDDD, and the EU’s Nature Restoration Law should not be seen as a codification of the highest ambitions for companies. Companies willing to take on responsibility for protecting forests and their biodiversity should, therefore, not only carry out due diligence and risk assessments. They should also set up better company policies, collaborate with producers and other stakeholders, and shift over to using near to fully circular and regenerative business models. Moreover, companies looking to have a meaningful impact should also move away from using monocultures and clearcutting, create permacultures with native species, use single-tree selection methods where applicable, and help to defragment global forest areas.

The next newsletter will explore how companies can help protect Indigenous People’s rights by caring for forests. If you want to be notified when it comes out, please subscribe below.

About the authors

Christine Nikander is the founder of the environmental and social sustainability consultancy, Palsa & Pulk. She regularly helps companies navigate the complex regulatory and compliance obligations around their global supply chains. Christine studied law at the universities of Columbia (New York), Edinburgh (Scotland), and Leiden (the Netherlands). She has been writing The E-Waste Column weekly since 2022.

Heidrun Kordholste-Nikander is a freelance biodiversity & forestry consultant at Palsa & Pulk. Her core competences lay in implementing sustainability into forestry and agricultural practices. Heidrun also advises clients on how to protect biodiversity. She studied forest management and environmental protection technology in Munich (Germany) and North American studies in Helsinki (Finland). Through her consultancy work, she hopes to help companies make science-based sustainability decisions that are practical, pragmatic, and effective.

About Palsa & Pulk

Palsa & Pulk is an environmental and social sustainability consultancy. It provides compliance, governance, policy, and strategic advice to its clients. The consultancy’s work is mostly focused on supply chain governance, the just transition, circular economy, and human rights.

Stay up to date

Our monthly newsletter is published here on Substack, on LinkedIn, and on our blog. Subscribe to be notified when our newsletters are published.

[i] Convention on Biological Diversity: Forest Biodiversity. https://www.cbd.int/doc/meetings/cop/cop-09/media/cop9-press-kit-forest-en.pdf (21.08.2024)

[ii] UN Environment Programme: Earth’s biodiversity depends on the world’s forests. https://www.unep-wcmc.org/en/news/earths-biodiversity-depends-on-the-worlds-forests (21.08.2024)

[iii] Greenpeace: Urwald vs. Nutzwald. https://greenpeace.at/hintergrund/unterschied-urwald-nutzwald/ (24.04.2024)

[iv] Convention on Biological Diversity: Forest Biodiversity. https://www.cbd.int/doc/meetings/cop/cop-09/media/cop9-press-kit-forest-en.pdf (21.08.2024)

[v] Greenpeace: Urwald vs. Nutzwald. https://greenpeace.at/hintergrund/unterschied-urwald-nutzwald/ (24.04.2024)

[vi] Fungi Foundation, Decomposition. https://www.ffungi.org/why-fungi/decomposition (26.04.2024)

[vii] Fungi Foundation, Biodiversity. https://www.ffungi.org/why-fungi/biodiversity (26.04.2024)

[viii] Convention on Biological Diversity: Forest Biodiversity. https://www.cbd.int/doc/meetings/cop/cop-09/media/cop9-press-kit-forest-en.pdf (21.08.2024)

[ix] Convention on Biological Diversity: Forest Biodiversity. https://www.cbd.int/doc/meetings/cop/cop-09/media/cop9-press-kit-forest-en.pdf (21.08.2024)

[x] UN Environment Programme: Earth’s biodiversity depends on the world’s forests. https://www.unep-wcmc.org/en/news/earths-biodiversity-depends-on-the-worlds-forests (21.08.2024)

[xi] Convention on Biological Diversity: Forest Biodiversity, What’s the Problem? https://www.cbd.int/forest/problem.shtml (21.08.2024)

[xii] Maxwwell, Radwin: Mongabay News & inspiration from nature’s frontline; Mining may contribute to deforestation more than previously thought, report says. https://news.mongabay.com/2023/04/mining-may-contribute-to-deforestation-more-than-previously-thought-report-says/ (20.04.2024)

[xiii] Trase: EU27 countries in the spotlight for deforestation exposure. https://trase.earth/insights/eu27-countries-in-the-spotlight-for-deforestation-exposure (21.08.2024)

[xiv] UN Environment Programme: Earth’s biodiversity depends on the world’s forests. https://www.unep-wcmc.org/en/news/earths-biodiversity-depends-on-the-worlds-forests (21.08.2024)

[xv] European Commission: Regulation on Deforestation-free products. https://environment.ec.europa.eu/topics/forests/deforestation/regulation-deforestation-free-products_en (21.08.2024)

[xvi] Regulation (EU) 2023/1115 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 31 May 2023. https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/HTML/?uri=CELEX:32023R1115 (21.08.2024)

[xvii] Regulation (EU) 2023/1115 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 31 May 2023. https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/HTML/?uri=CELEX:32023R1115 (21.08.2024)

[xviii] Regulation (EU) 2023/1115 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 31 May 2023. https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/HTML/?uri=CELEX:32023R1115 (21.08.2024)

[xix] Trase: How to ensure due diligence policies actually tackle deforestation. https://trase.earth/insights/how-to-ensure-due-diligence-policies-actually-tackle-deforestation (21.08.2024)

[xx] Trase: Traceability is not a silver bullet for reducing deforestation. https://trase.earth/insights/traceability-is-not-a-silver-bullet-for-reducing-deforestation (21.08.2024)

[xxi] Trase: How to ensure due diligence policies actually tackle deforestation. https://trase.earth/insights/how-to-ensure-due-diligence-policies-actually-tackle-deforestation (21.08.2024)

[xxii] Trase: How to ensure due diligence policies actually tackle deforestation. https://trase.earth/insights/how-to-ensure-due-diligence-policies-actually-tackle-deforestation (21.08.2024)

[xxiii] Trase: How to ensure due diligence policies actually tackle deforestation. https://trase.earth/insights/how-to-ensure-due-diligence-policies-actually-tackle-deforestation (21.08.2024)

[xxiv] Trase: Traceability is not a silver bullet for reducing deforestation. https://trase.earth/insights/traceability-is-not-a-silver-bullet-for-reducing-deforestation (21.08.2024)

[xxv] Trase: How to ensure due diligence policies actually tackle deforestation. https://trase.earth/insights/how-to-ensure-due-diligence-policies-actually-tackle-deforestation (21.08.2024)

[xxvi] UN Environment Programme: Earth’s biodiversity depends on the world’s forests. https://www.unep-wcmc.org/en/news/earths-biodiversity-depends-on-the-worlds-forests (21.08.2024)

[xxvii] Sitra: Circular Solutions For Nature: Handbook for businesses. https://circulareconomy.europa.eu/platform/sites/default/files/2024-05/sitra-circular-solutions-for-nature-handbook-for-businesses.pdf (21.08.2024)

What is “planet-centered design”?

Planet-centric design is essentially about taking responsibility for the environment and climate in the design process. Designing in a planet-centric way is about “making sure sustainability and inclusiveness sit at the table at the strategic points of the design process”.[i] At its core, planet-centric design aims to “re-balanc[e] humans’ and our planet’s needs while placing the planet at the center and prioritizing its ecosystem”.[ii] Planet-centered design can also be referred to as sustainable design, environmentally-conscious design, eco-design, or humanity-centered design.[iii]

Typically, the attention in developing a product or a service often goes to the considerations of how to make the design as economically as possible, how to make the design technically possible, how to maximize the profit margin, and similar aspects. While these considerations need to be taken into account, people and the planet also need to be factored in.

For the past several decades, we have focused on so-called “human-centered design”.[iv] Overall, the human-centered approach can be seen as an improvement to the process-centered design approach, by emphasizing the user's needs and desires over what makes the biggest profit or is cheapest to produce. Yet to date, human-centered design has been “focused on people, their desires and needs without looking at the well-being of the planet”.[v] In other words, in regard to environmental issues, the human-centered design approach falls short because it (at least partially) perpetuates an image that humans are separate from nature and its resources.

Overall, the human-centered design approach has strengthened a world view, where humans are separate – or superior – to nature and where natural resources are there to serve the humans' needs. This has contributed to our present-day situation, where human-centered needs and desires have overexploited the natural landscapes of our environment.

Quite logically, “design that is not good for our planet is ultimately not good for people”.[vi] In line with this, planet-centered design “distances itself from a user-centered perspective and moves towards an egalitarian, planetary view – without losing sight of the user, the human being”.[vii] In planet-centered design, the focus is therefore on both “team human” and “team non-human”. The overarching aim of planet-centered design is to place “individual human needs on the same level as planetary needs”. This means that living beings or Earth, who do not speak, are also given a voice.[viii]

The ultimate goal of the planet-centered approach would be to transition to a system-level thinking in the design processes, where humans are seen as part of nature (which they are), and the products, processes, and services that we design actually work within the natural systems and generate value back to nature. This design approach is called regenerative design.[ix]

Designing for the planet

The principle underlying all truly planet-centered design is the concept that “we are not alone on our planet and that this planet has limits”.[x] The planet-centered design process aims to factor the planet “back into the design process”.[xi] Notably, the wheel does not need to be reinvented. By going back in time by only 50 years, we can see a very different economy — one that is mostly circular or at least low- to zero-waste.

According to the Fountain Institute, there are seven core principles that lay at the core of planet-centered design. The first two of these are that “the world can be redesigned” and that design can and should be used to bring about systemic change. The next three principles focus on designing for longer timelines, measuring the consequences of the designs created, and adapting designs to the real world. The final two principles focus on communication and collaboration throughout the design process.[xii]

In practice, examples of ways to design in a more planet-centered way include “understand[ing] current user behaviours and impacts so that the effects of the new/revised service can be estimated”. It also encompasses designing in a way “that users’ consumption of energy & materials is kept to a minimum”.[xiii]

Currently, both the supply of food and water are under threat.[xiv] Notably however, “countering the severely high greenhouse gas footprint derived from industrial farming and agriculture is not the only opportunity for more ethical food choices”. How designers and companies approach the process to “manufacture, package and transport food” is also key, as is exploring how we consume food. As the global population continues to grow, we need to shift our attention “not only on eating better, but making quality food available to more people”. We have to do this “while nurturing biodiversity, protecting the lands we manufacture food on, and supporting the local communities where it is harvested and produced in the process”.[xv] Tackling this plurality of issues is where planet-centered design principles may come into good use.

What is the role of designers and design thinking in the future?

Design is everywhere — in “products, services and entirely new businesses”.[xvi] How things are designed has implications and consequences, and it also creates opportunities.[xvii] Design “has the ability to advance human behavior”. In line with this, design that is planet-centered is thought to be able to “play a huge role in driving a sustainable economy”, as it can shape “the products we make, the processes we follow and the policies we influence”.[xviii]

When the design process is looked at as a series of decisions that a designer makes, it shines light on the responsibility of the designer in shaping the effects of the design on the environment and people.[xix] As “planetary systems are complex”, “design processes and tools are necessary to help navigate complexity and create better solutions for society that fit within the planet’s boundaries”.[xx]

Design has the potential of considering and asking the difficult questions that are needed in order for us to create a change towards a socially and environmentally just future. Designers play a key role in society and our ongoing transitions. They “can guide companies to strive for more service-centered business models that consumers will be willing to buy into, ones that avoid damage to the environment, but are also built to adapt as needed”.[xxi]

As we transition, the manner in which designers “work will also need to evolve to integrate new criteria for assessing quality, such as by measuring the carbon footprint of production, monitoring manufacturing practices and considering the ethics of source materials—as well as the effects on indirect users or disturbances generated by a project”. It is no longer “enough to [simply] focus on desirability, viability and feasibility when designing new services”.[xxii]

The next major step in our transition is the process of “redefining design thinking methods to include both human and environmental needs”.[xxiii] In their article titled “Futures: Resilient Futures”, Brian Collins and J.A. Ginsburg argue that “we are at a moment in history where almost everything needs to be rethought, reimagined and done different: How products are made. How services are delivered. Packaging. Materials. Business models.”[xxiv]

Brian Collins and J.A. Ginsburg see designers’ core role in aiding “companies and organizations [to] see, create and communicate their places in the future”. In order to properly do that, designers must however “look beyond the stakeholders of today” and think at least a few years into the future. They argue that even more than the “stakeholders”, designers should be thinking about the “stakes”.[xxv]

What mindset shift in design is needed for a better future?

Going forward, “the outputs of design must also be responsible, systemic and transparent”. Designers need to be “making thoughtful decisions that can have an effect on the future, accelerating behavior change for sustainability and making an environmental impact”. Designers must “clarify a vision and propose solutions — for a future in which the needs of human beings and the needs of our planet are in balance”.[xxvi]

Planet-centered design requires a shift or movement in the way that designers currently think. In line with this, Samuel Huber, from the For Planet Strategy Lab, has outlined “Four Movements of Planet-Centric Design”. These are “from humans to planet”, “from quantity to quality”, “from short- to long-term”, and “from market fit to planet fit”.[xxvii]

Under the first of these movements, Huber argues that we need to factor the planet into design methodologies, as the focus is currently placed almost solely on humans. Under the second movement, Huber argues that we currently place too big a focus on the quantitative side of growth. Qualitative factors such as “durability, intensity, trust, freedom, and relationships” are important but often factored in less, as they are difficult to measure. By factoring in “growth in quality”, planet-centric design could actually cater to human needs better than the use of more design methodologies. Under the third movement, Huber argues that designers should focus on the long-term perspective and consider how things may play out in the long run. Under the final movement, Huber argues that designers and businesses need to take care of their home. He argues that sustainability is “good for long-term business” and that a disregard for the environment sets businesses up for failure in the long run. He therefore also argues that designers must firstly make their creations “planet fit”, before considering ways to make them “market fit”.[xxviii]

Notably, a planet-centric design mindset will be needed throughout the entire chain of business and across sectors. It should be integrated into the core of business strategies, just as it is integrated into the design briefs for design teams. Cross-disciplinary knowledge will play a key role in being able to consider the different effects of design and the opportunities for change — from environmental sciences to communications and from business administration to production process expertise.

Can we design a (more) just transition?

Consumers are often flooded with messaging that encourages them to avoid fast fashion and single-use plastic or to recycle more. Beyond individual choices, it is also important that companies and designers make good choices. To build a just transition, companies must fundamentally reassess their business models. To be sustainable and future-proof, companies need “to strategically position themselves in step with both human and environmental needs”.[xxix] The process of publicly “sharing visions for new, evolved business models that push for lasting value over immediate convenience” can help to create space for “the sustainable, planet-centric economy of the future”.[xxx]

Luckily, in recent years, the trend of circularity has picked up pace and increasingly more circular considerations and innovations are now being applied across sectors. While this is a good first step, going forward, we should collectively shift our perspective from human-centered design to planet-centered design. In any design process that is planet-centered, the first and biggest consideration is whether the design is possible to make and whether it is sustainable from the planet's perspective. It is, notably, only secondary to consider the human-perspective – and the production-perspective becomes tertiary. While this might sound radical, if we are really serious about tackling the environmental and social challenges of our time soon, this is the mindset shift we and our businesses will need to make.

Would you be interested to learn more about key design considerations and the life cycle of an electric vehicle battery? You can now explore the material and energy use, environmental and social impacts, and EU regulations that apply to the different life stages of an EV battery in Palsa & Pulk’s new interactive visual.

The next newsletter will explore the importance of protecting biodiversity. If you want to be notified when it comes out, please subscribe below.

About the authors

Saskia Tykkyläinen is a freelance sustainability and strategy consultant at Palsa & Pulk. She studied industrial product design and business management. Saskia has extensive experience working with young growth firms and entrepreneurs in accelerator and education programs. In her consultancy work, Saskia takes on projects that design and build sustainable business practices.

Christine Nikander is the founder of the environmental and social sustainability consultancy, Palsa & Pulk. She studied law at the universities of Columbia (New York), Edinburgh (Scotland), and Leiden (the Netherlands). Christine was a member of the Fall 2021 “Design For Social Innovation” cohort at the Columbia Entrepreneurship Design Studio. She has been writing The E-Waste Column weekly since 2022 and focuses on supply chain governance in her work.

About Palsa & Pulk

Palsa & Pulk is an environmental and social sustainability consultancy. It provides compliance, governance, policy, and strategic advice to its clients. The consultancy’s work is mostly focused on supply chain governance, the just transition, circular economy, and human rights.

About The E-Waste Column

The E-Waste Column is a weekly column about e-waste, transition minerals, and critical raw materials. It touches on a range of topics including ESG, sustainable development, circular economy, EU law and policymaking, corporate social responsibility, the transition to renewable energy, the EU Green Deal, supply chain due diligence and auditing, human environmental rights, business and human rights, climate law, and corporate sustainability.

Stay up to date

Our monthly newsletter is published here on Substack, on LinkedIn, and on our blog. Subscribe to be notified when our newsletters are published.

[i] https://hybridheroes.de/blog/2022-10-27-how-to-design-in-a-planet-centric-way/

[ii] https://aware-theplatform.com/planet-centric-design-from-egoism-to-ecosystems/

[iii] https://www.thefountaininstitute.com/blog/design-of-really-big-things

[iv] https://aware-theplatform.com/planet-centric-design-from-egoism-to-ecosystems/

[v] https://aware-theplatform.com/planet-centric-design-from-egoism-to-ecosystems/

[vi] https://aware-theplatform.com/planet-centric-design-from-egoism-to-ecosystems/

[vii] https://aware-theplatform.com/planet-centric-design-from-egoism-to-ecosystems/

[viii] https://samuelhuber.medium.com/what-is-planet-centric-design-8d1754b52fba

[ix] https://www.ornamo.fi/artikkeli/nain-paaset-eroon-ihmiskeskeisyydesta-paivita-osaamisesi-tulevaisuuteen/

[x] https://samuelhuber.medium.com/what-is-planet-centric-design-8d1754b52fba

[xi] https://samuelhuber.medium.com/what-is-planet-centric-design-8d1754b52fba

[xii] https://www.thefountaininstitute.com/blog/design-of-really-big-things

[xiii] https://defradigital.blog.gov.uk/2023/03/06/how-being-planet-centric-can-really-make-a-difference-when-designing-services/

[xiv] https://www.wearecollins.com/ideas/stakes-design/

[xv] https://www.frog.co/designmind/envisioning-and-designing-a-planet-centric-future

[xvi] https://www.frog.co/designmind/envisioning-and-designing-a-planet-centric-future

[xvii] https://www.wearecollins.com/ideas/stakes-design/

[xviii] https://www.frog.co/designmind/envisioning-and-designing-a-planet-centric-future

[xix] https://www.frog.co/designmind/envisioning-and-designing-a-planet-centric-future

[xx] https://aware-theplatform.com/planet-centric-design-from-egoism-to-ecosystems/

[xxi] https://www.frog.co/designmind/envisioning-and-designing-a-planet-centric-future

[xxii] https://aware-theplatform.com/planet-centric-design-from-egoism-to-ecosystems/

[xxiii] https://www.frog.co/designmind/envisioning-and-designing-a-planet-centric-future

[xxiv] https://www.wearecollins.com/ideas/stakes-design/

[xxv] https://www.wearecollins.com/ideas/stakes-design/

[xxvi] https://aware-theplatform.com/planet-centric-design-from-egoism-to-ecosystems/

[xxvii] https://samuelhuber.medium.com/what-is-planet-centric-design-8d1754b52fba; https://www.thefountaininstitute.com/blog/design-of-really-big-things

[xxviii] https://samuelhuber.medium.com/what-is-planet-centric-design-8d1754b52fba; https://www.thefountaininstitute.com/blog/design-of-really-big-things

[xxix] https://www.frog.co/designmind/envisioning-and-designing-a-planet-centric-future

[xxx] https://www.frog.co/designmind/envisioning-and-designing-a-planet-centric-future

What role does design play in a circular economy?

The circular economy is sometimes described as the economy of “Rs”. It is an economy built on the principles of refusing, rethinking, reducing, reusing, repairing, refurbishing or renovating, remanufacturing, repurposing, recycling, recovering, and regenerating.[i] In a circular economy, there is no waste. Everything is reused and nothing is lost — just like in nature. Notably, the circular economy is not just about recycling, because recycling alone is not enough. Waste can be recycled, but it is better still if it is never even created to begin with — or at least, that significantly less is created.

The design phase defines the characteristics of a product as well as the possibilities of its lifecycle. Waste generation, pollution, and destruction of wildlife for resource extraction do not happen by accident, they are the result of design decisions.[ii] Circular design incorporates considerations for making products that are in line with the principles of the circular economy.[iii] This is done by analyzing the full lifecycle and the end placement of the product already in the design phase, and by designing products to last. In the early design phase, it is crucial to consider the needs behind the designs created and the impacts the design will have during its life. A key question to reflect upon is whether the products and services are solving real problems and generating long-term value for the users, society, and ecosystems. We have already extracted more than a sustainable amount of our natural resources,[iv] and the use of all materials should be very carefully considered.

Circular design extends to considering business models to create customer paths that are not built around linear consumption. One example of a circular business model is offering products as services, or more broadly speaking shifting over to a service-based economy.[v] Many products are, by nature, such that they are only needed very rarely, in which case designing them for a community instead of merely for an individual use case may be more suitable anyway. By designing products, services, business models, and environments in line with circular economy principles, the economy and our surroundings can better support people, the planet, and even businesses.[vi]

Is there a responsibility for companies to design for circularity?

Circular design is a key tool companies can use to act more responsibly. Typically, responsibility on the market is thought to be a shared responsibility between consumers, companies, and governments. The problem however is that consumers and governments seldomly have access to the full information companies have on their production and manufacturing processes. Consumers and governments also do not always possess the specialist expertise needed to understand this information, even if it is made public or is disclosed. Therefore, it is also difficult for consumers and the government to hold companies accountable for the business decisions they make.

The shift to profit maximization and capitalism in design processes has unfortunately created a plurality of issues for both the environment and humans. Notably however, the EU has recently seen a push for bringing responsibility back to companies through a variety of new legislations on supply chains, corporate sustainability, the use of forced labour, circularity, and ecodesign. Without the active participation of companies that are willing to go beyond doing the bare minimum, these laws alone cannot however save the planet or our future.

Our economy needs to shift permanently away from single-use — and even from merely “recyclable” — products over to reusable and long-lasting products. We need companies to champion an economy where products will be used to the very end of their lifespans.[vii] These products could be rented, shared amongst several users simultaneously, or passed from one user to another. 

To show that this type of a new reality is not only possible but that it can also make “good economic sense”, we will be highlighting a few actors who are picking up the responsibility to make the world more circular. The examples we have selected are merely to be seen as illustrative case examples of how companies can innovate and come up with novel solutions to strengthen circularity in their own business operations — and thereby also strengthen the circular economy on the whole. The circular economy concerns all industries, and we have therefore attempted to bring up examples from different fields to highlight the variety amongst recent and new circular innovations.

Can circular solutions protect biodiversity?

Climate change and emissions have often been seen as the focal point for environmental damage. Nowadays, luckily, also the conservation of nature and the protection of biodiversity are seen as urgent and addressed more frequently. Biodiversity refers to the number of species in a community of organisms[viii] — meaning how varied an ecological environment is. Currently, the biodiversity of our living environments is decreasing due to human activities. This, in turn, is creating a risk for human well-being and for our economies. It is also putting environments and other species at risk.[ix]

Advancing circularity in the food and agriculture, construction, textiles, and forestry sectors can slow down or even reverse biodiversity loss. It is estimated that by 2035 circular solutions could allow global biodiversity to recover to levels equivalent to those of 2000.[x] A few examples of regenerating solutions include the Dutch company Corbion who is developing algae-based fish oil substitutes to decrease the need for animal products, the Finnish Parmaco Group who is leasing buildings to avoid land use and need for new building materials, as well as the UK-based Colorfix who is creating natural coloring processes to replace harmful and toxic textile dyes that may leave long-lasting effects in the environment.[xi]

Can circular design reduce material use?

The textile and clothing industry is one example of an industry that has increasingly grown in size and material use. In 2022, the global fiber production was at a record level of 116 million tonnes, having risen from 112 million tonnes in the previous year. Polyester makes up 54% of the global market, whereas natural fibers, cotton, and wool together made up 31% of the market in 2022.[xii]

Natural fibers are engineered by nature to be fully circular and compostable, often also having more durable and less toxic qualities than synthetic fibers. On the other hand, synthetic materials are often cheaper to produce and more stain and water repellent.[xiii] Creating circular loops is possible with synthetic materials too — and in 2022, the recycled textiles’ total market share was 7,9%. However, most of the recycled synthetic fibers were made of PET-bottles, and alarmingly the percentage of recycled textiles in the global fiber market was less than 1% in 2022.[xiv]

There are many players on the market working to advance circularity in textiles. For example, some companies, such as Spinnova and Pure Waste, are increasing the share of recycled textile fibers.[xv] Some companies, such as the Finnish startup Fluff Stuff, are replacing synthetic materials with natural ones.[xvi] Other companies, such as the Swedish Houdini Sportswear, are developing new design processes to replace virgin materials with circular ones and ensuring the recyclability of all materials used in their products after their lifetime.[xvii] Again other companies, such as the Dutch MUD Jeans, are leasing and recycling jeans.[xviii]

There are also a number of startups that use mushrooms as an alternative and biobased material source. A lot of different products can be created from mushrooms instead of plastics or other less sustainable materials.[xix] The startup Ecovative, for example, uses mushrooms to create “everything from an alternative to styrofoam to an alternative for leather and even bacon”.[xx] Similarly, the Dutch design studio StudioMOM has created a bicycle helmet from mycelium and hemp textile called “MyHelmet”.[xxi] Building materials and alternatives to styrofoam can also be created from mycelium.[xxii] As an example, Grown Bio makes diverse packaging and insulation panels from mycelium.[xxiii]

Can circular design reduce end-of-life waste?

Fairphone is a well-known example of a company that has tried to create electronics with smaller adverse environmental and social impacts. There are also a number of startups and scaleups that focus on repairing or “refurbishing” old or broken electronics and selling or leasing these to new users. The Paris-based Back Market, Circular Technologies in the Italian Ligurian Region, the Berlin-based Grover, the London-based Reboxed, the Singapore-based myhalo and Reebelo, the Vienna-based Refurbed, the Finnish Swappie, and the Dutch Valyuu are all examples of this.[xxiv]

New business models and digital solutions are also being developed to provide consumers with better access to circular outcomes. In the textile and fashion fields, repair and rental platforms and services have created new business opportunities. Examples of this include the UK-based Sojo, Rotation bags, and Responsible.[xxv] Similarly, in the electronics sector, the London-based Oodles and the Polish Plenti allow companies and consumers to lease rather than buy technology products.[xxvi] There are also several interesting collaborations happening on the market that advance the shift over to a circular economy. One example of a circular incentive is the secondhand clothing platform Emmy’s attempt to motivate consumers purchasing, for example, eyewear or electronics to sell their used and unneeded clothing by slightly increasing the value of their sold clothes if they opt for a gift card with their partner organizations.[xxvii]

What role does circularity play in corporate responsibility?

In the past, many consumers and businesses have looked to the law to create new rules and to “level the playing field”. The law was expected to define what was considered as fair and ethical. While this thought was not a bad one, it failed to account for many of the shortcomings of legislation and regulations. One bigger issue is that legislation is typically retrospective by nature. Laws often only fix things after they have become an issue or a hazard. Moreover, regulators cannot know everything that businesses know, because they are not on the ground within companies every day. Additionally, “creative compliance” or the circumventing of laws’ intentions frequently also creates issues.

The law is very rarely truly a codification of the highest ambitions of our societies. It should therefore, at its best, be seen as setting out minimum requirements for businesses and different stakeholders. In line with this, companies willing to take on responsibility should not only comply with “the letter of the law” but also with the intentions or “the nature of the law”. If, as a society, we are truly serious about tackling the environmental and social challenges of our time, companies will need to go above and beyond what the law sets out. For companies to be sustainable or responsible, their core business principles need to be circular and innovative. To truly achieve circularity or sustainability, a more profound shift in design and entire business models will be needed – at that soon.

The next newsletter will explore “planet-centered” design and the role of designers in creating a sustainable future. If you want to be notified when it comes out, please subscribe below.

About the authors

Saskia Tykkyläinen is a freelance sustainability and strategy consultant at Palsa & Pulk. She studied industrial product design and business management. Saskia has extensive experience working with young growth firms and entrepreneurs in accelerator and education programs. In her consultancy work, Saskia takes on projects that design and build sustainable business practices.

Christine Nikander is the founder of the environmental and social sustainability consultancy, Palsa & Pulk. She studied law at the universities of Columbia (New York), Edinburgh (Scotland), and Leiden (the Netherlands). Christine was a member of the Fall 2021 “Design For Social Innovation” cohort at the Columbia Entrepreneurship Design Studio. She has been writing The E-Waste Column weekly since 2022 and focuses on supply chain governance in her work.

About Palsa & Pulk

Palsa & Pulk is an environmental and social sustainability consultancy. It provides compliance, governance, policy, and strategic advice to its clients. The consultancy’s work is mostly focused on supply chain governance, the just transition, circular economy, and human rights.

About The E-Waste Column

The E-Waste Column is a weekly column about e-waste, transition minerals, and critical raw materials. It touches on a range of topics including ESG, sustainable development, circular economy, EU law and policymaking, corporate social responsibility, the transition to renewable energy, the EU Green Deal, supply chain due diligence and auditing, human environmental rights, business and human rights, climate law, and corporate sustainability.

Stay up to date

Our monthly newsletter is published here on Substack, on LinkedIn, and on our blog. Subscribe to be notified when our newsletters are published.

[i] https://www.eea.europa.eu/publications/accelerating-the-circular-economy; https://www.circularise.com/blogs/r-strategies-for-a-circular-economy#:~:text=Enter%20the%2010%20R%2DStrategies,R8%20Recycle%20and%20R9%20Recover.

[ii] https://www.ellenmacarthurfoundation.org/topics/circular-design/overview?gad_source=1&gclid=CjwKCAjw88yxBhBWEiwA7cm6pUPlX4mpJgqwVRH9qiRzoa_jkhDmJFpIW6buytyX_LwQVvogXTAZlBoCYqgQAvD_BwE

[iii] https://www.interaction-design.org/literature/topics/circular-design

[iv] https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2024/jan/31/raw-materials-extraction-2060-un-report

[v] https://www.circularity-gap.world/2024

[vi] https://www.ellenmacarthurfoundation.org/topics/circular-design/overview?gad_source=1&gclid=CjwKCAjw88yxBhBWEiwA7cm6pUPlX4mpJgqwVRH9qiRzoa_jkhDmJFpIW6buytyX_LwQVvogXTAZlBoCYqgQAvD_BwE

[vii] https://www.sitra.fi/en/events/tackling-root-causes-halting-biodiversity-loss-through-the-circular-economy%EF%BF%BC/

[viii] https://www.eea.europa.eu/help/glossary/chm-biodiversity/biological-diversity

[ix] https://www.sitra.fi/en/articles/adopt-circular-solutions-to-reach-global-goals-for-nature%ef%bf%bc/

[x] https://www.sitra.fi/en/events/tackling-root-causes-halting-biodiversity-loss-through-the-circular-economy%EF%BF%BC/

[xi] https://www.sitra.fi/en/news/circular-solutions-tackle-biodiversity-loss-and-unlock-business-growth-see-europes-top-30-list/

[xii] https://textileexchange.org/news/textile-exchanges-annual-materials-market-report-shows-further-growth-in-the-overall-production-of-new-materials-including-fossil-based-synthetic-fibers/

[xiii] https://www.masterclass.com/articles/natural-vs-synthetic-fibers

[xiv] https://textileexchange.org/news/textile-exchanges-annual-materials-market-report-shows-further-growth-in-the-overall-production-of-new-materials-including-fossil-based-synthetic-fibers/

[xv] https://spinnova.com/; https://purewaste.com/?v=f0aa03aaca95

[xvi] https://fluffstuff.fi/

[xvii] https://houdinisportswear.com/en-fi/?gad_source=1&gclid=CjwKCAjwuJ2xBhA3EiwAMVjkVHXdPKJ1J8kRjBR10VlcSZLsnTuoIN7NJpUBRSsZKPRc6JpfJDZ5shoCpmYQAvD_BwE

[xviii] https://mudjeans.com/pages/sustainability-mud-jeans

[xix] https://www.welt.de/wissenschaft/article204959480/Pilze-als-Baustoff-Wenn-ein-Zunderschwamm-zu-einem-Fahrradhelm-wird.html

[xx] https://www.wearecollins.com/ideas/stakes-design/

[xxi] https://plainmagazine.com/myhelmet-studiomom-sustainable-bike-helmet/; https://studiomom.nl/en/projects/myhelmet; https://futuremoves.com/studio-mom-myhelmet/

[xxii] https://www.db-bauzeitung.de/news/baustoffe-aus-pilzen-algen-und-sonnenlicht/; https://www.baunetzwissen.de/daemmstoffe/tipps/produkte/pilzgeflecht-als-baumaterial-2622825; https://www.berliner-zeitung.de/zukunft-technologie/pilze-statt-plastik-berliner-forscher-entwickeln-styropor-ersatz-li.163799

[xxiii] https://www.grown.bio/

[xxiv] https://www.theewastecolumn.com/database/business-solutions/startups-and-scaleups-in-refurbished-tech

[xxv] https://www.eu-startups.com/2022/06/10-europeans-startups-fueling-the-transition-to-a-circular-economy/; https://www.eu-startups.com/2022/04/promoting-circularity-in-the-fashion-industry-london-based-sojo-stitches-up-e2-2-million-for-its-alterations-and-repairs-app/; https://home.sojo.uk/; https://www.eu-startups.com/2022/04/uk-based-social-fashion-rental-platform-by-rotation-bags-e2-7-million-to-scale-rapid-growth/; https://www.eu-startups.com/2022/01/belfast-based-responsible-raises-e5-8-million-to-power-a-circular-future-for-the-fashion-industry/

[xxvi] https://www.eu-startups.com/2023/11/london-based-ooodles-raises-e11-million-to-turn-it-tech-buying-on-its-head-with-its-rental-platform-for-smes/; https://www.eu-startups.com/2023/02/polish-startup-plenti-picks-up-e5-million-to-build-rental-and-subscription-marketplace-for-electronic-devices/; https://www.eu-startups.com/directory/plenti/

[xxvii] https://store.emmy.fi/pages/emmyn-yhteistyokumppanit

What is design?

Design is the process of planning, defining, and shaping the environments in which we live. Everything we interact with has been designed — from the phone in our pocket, to the trains we travel with and the education system we have attended. The design process is used to innovate products and services, as well as for example cities, infrastructures, websites, digital interfaces, and even business strategies. According to the International Council of Design, the design practice focuses on the interaction between a person and the (hu)man-made environment by looking into the “aesthetic, functional, contextual, cultural and societal considerations”.[i] In the design process, it is common to define the challenge or problem that a person — or the user of a given product or service — faces. From there, designers ideate, prototype, and test different solutions to the problem. Design thinking is essentially problem solving.

To create as good of a user experience as possible, the design should factor in the expectations, personal preferences, background, and past experiences of the user. A central aspect of the design process is, therefore, to empathize with the user and actively ask for feedback throughout the process to avoid bias and skewed expectations. While there may be differences in how well a product, service or system succeeds in answering the needs of the user, design decisions have nevertheless been made along the way.

Can design play a role in achieving justice?

In a world where almost everything around us is designed in some shape or form, design matters. How “things” are made and by whom, how they function, what they deliver and fail to deliver, whose interests they serve and exclude, and what short and long-term impacts they have are fundamentally questions of justice. Responsible design can thereby play a role in achieving energy justice, climate justice, environmental justice, and social justice.

Traceability and transparency are key tools for both environmental and social justice. In line with this, designing products with transparent supply chains, and sourcing materials and labour responsibly, can promote justice. Supply chains are known for lacking transparency and supervision on environmentally and socially just practices. It is a generally accepted view that the main purpose of businesses is to maximize profit and shareholder value. Supply chains are often also managed with this mindset, creating a domino effect from one actor to another. Many companies look to source parts and partners with as low costs as possible. Many suppliers provide parts or services with such low costs that it is not possible to cover living — or even minimum — wages to the workers. Natural resources are exploited in oversized manufacturing processes that the natural world and ecosystems cannot sustain in the long run.

A commonly overlooked aspect in the supply chain or impact of a product or service is the role that the early design phase — when the product’s or service’s parts and characteristics are defined — plays. Decisions made in the design phase can have a large impact on the supply chain as a whole, and therewith on environmental and social justice questions. Decisions made in the design phase notably influence inclusion, accessibility, and equality of the products and services that are produced. From an environmental perspective, the design phase is key to “how long something lasts, what it is made of, if it can be repaired, and what happens to it at the end of life”.[ii] Designers are, therefore, in positions of great power and responsibility in defining our surroundings and creating a just world. Design can have a significant impact not just on the goods sold, but also on entire industrial processes and societal systems.

What is the impact of design on environmental justice?

Designing for usability, energy efficiency, reparably, and longevity all have the potential to play a key role in environmental justice. Notably, according to the Ellen McArthur Foundation[iii] and Dr. Natacha Tréhan, an expert in procurement and the circular economy at the University of Grenoble Alpes,[iv] “80% of environmental impact is determined at the design stage”.

The use of resources in products is a design question. The production, packaging, and shipping of goods all create carbon emissions, as does the marketing and obsolescence of products. When it comes to protecting ecosystems, groundwater, and human health, the use of chemicals and water in the production of goods are also particularly relevant questions. Notably, the production of a cotton T-shirt or a pair of cotton jeans requires 2700 and 10850 liters of water respectively.[v] The production of most clothing also uses commercial bleaches and dyes, which can have a negative impact on both the environment and human health.[vi] Water and chemical use are, however, still frequently overlooked when designing goods or services.

When it comes to design features, improving the energy efficiency of products has the potential to play a significant role in the just transition.[vii] For the environment, less is often more. In line with this, products can be designed to use less energy or use energy more efficiently. The reuse of otherwise “lost” or wasted energy, for example by capturing and using heat that is produced as a byproduct, is a good example of this. Notably, less energy consumption can mean less energy needs to be produced, there are lower costs for consumers, and it is better for the planet too.

Key environmental justice questions also arise in the context of waste production. Designing products to break through so-called “planned obsolescence” and destroying new goods that have been designed for only a season creates large quantities of waste.[viii] The waste shipments resulting from fast fashion and masses of textile waste, as well as from our consumption of ever-new electronics and the e-waste this produces, take a toll on the planet and on people.

When looking at supply chains and the design or production process, Digital Product Passports (DPP) are one example of a feature that can be used to make products more sustainable. The aim with DPP is that the end users can be better informed on the materials of a product, and thereby — for example — make better purchasing decisions or recycle the product properly at the end of its lifecycle.[ix] While this is a positive improvement in terms of increasing transparency and accountability in production chains, it will hopefully also pressure businesses and their design departments to truly make more sustainable choices. Examples of brands that have made considerable efforts to improve their supply chain transparency and have also factored this into their design process include Lovia, Fairphone, and Patagonia. Going forward, hopefully, more businesses and designers will take responsibility for the negative impacts brought about through their creations — instead of merely shifting the responsibility on consumers yet again.

What is the impact of design on social justice?

Design considerations, and their social justice implications, play a role in building and maintaining equality. At its core, who products and services are designed for is an equity and access question. Design products are often seen as niche luxury items for wealthy consumers. In the culture of over-consumption, which is widespread in most developed societies, design caters to consumer “needs” such as the desire for an easier, trendier, and more comfortable lifestyle. In addition to high-end products (e.g. personal electronics, luxury furniture, and food-delivery services), this also includes cheaper or single-use products (e.g. ready-made meals, takeaway coffee cups, and fast fashion clothing). Used in this way, design further deepens the division between economic groups and encourages materialistic consumption culture.

Societies contain inequalities and these inequalities, unsurprisingly, are often also reflected in the design decisions made for products, services, and for example public spaces. In most cases women, people of color, disabled people and youth are underrepresented in the decision-making processes. In the EU, 24% of designers were women in 2021[x] and women represented approximately 25% of project managers globally in 2023.[xi] Black people held less than 5% of the design roles in 2021.[xii] This has led to social injustice. For instance, in 2019, car seats and professional equipment were still developed with only male data, and a lot of the design research was conducted with male-only test groups, which then regarded the male mental and physical attributes as the standard human attributes.[xiii]

Broadly speaking, societal wealth structures affect which demographic groups become designers. Wealth structures also affect who the clients and investors of projects are — thus defining the goals, characteristics, and design considerations of projects and products.[xiv] Yet, when these structures and biases are addressed, design can be used to tackle inequalities. An example of how design can be used to protect vulnerable groups can be found in the “Embrace Infant Warmer”. The warmer is a low-cost and portable alternative to neonatal incubators that protects babies born at a low weight or prematurely in rural or remote areas. It was designed — notably by a predominantly female team — to specifically combat infant mortality in less wealthy parts of the world.[xv]

What is the potential for design?

Design has the potential of asking the difficult questions that are needed in order for us to create a just transition. Design and designers thereby hold a great power for creating a more environmentally and socially just future. In today’s world, an “activist” mindset is therefore perhaps also needed for designers.

Designers and project managers can, and should, be the voices for change. Optimally, everyone involved in the design decisions throughout a project would become more aware of, and perhaps also be held more accountable for, the effects and even harms the choices they make may cause. Moreover, the environment and less privileged communities need a voice in the room. While they are currently underrepresented in the decision-making, they are over-represented in places where the most harm through these decisions is caused.

Design has the potential to be used as a tool to shape consumer habits and desires. It is commonly thought that design is only created for a need that consumers already have. While this is a great approach in many cases, making life continuously easier and more effortless in the culture of over-consumption and the comfort of western lifestyles may not be justifiable anymore. To achieve an environmentally and socially just world, over-consuming lifestyles, and the design that comes with it, needs to change. Design and innovation play a key role in this shift.

The next newsletter will explore circular design by highlighting a set of innovative design solutions. If you want to be notified when it comes out, please subscribe below.

About the authors

Saskia Tykkyläinen is a freelance sustainability and strategy consultant at Palsa & Pulk. She studied industrial product design and business management. Saskia has extensive experience working with young growth firms and entrepreneurs in accelerator and education programs. In her consultancy work, Saskia takes on projects that design and build sustainable business practices.

Christine Nikander is the founder of the environmental and social sustainability consultancy, Palsa & Pulk. She studied law at the universities of Columbia (New York), Edinburgh (Scotland), and Leiden (the Netherlands). Christine was a member of the Fall 2021 “Design For Social Innovation” cohort at the Columbia Entrepreneurship Design Studio. She has been writing The E-Waste Column weekly since 2022 and focuses on supply chain governance in her work.

About Palsa & Pulk

Palsa & Pulk is an environmental and social sustainability consultancy. It provides compliance, governance, policy, and strategic advice to its clients. The consultancy’s work is mostly focused on supply chain governance, the just transition, circular economy, and human rights.

About The E-Waste Column

The E-Waste Column is a weekly column about e-waste, transition minerals, and critical raw materials. It touches on a range of topics including ESG, sustainable development, circular economy, EU law and policymaking, corporate social responsibility, the transition to renewable energy, the EU Green Deal, supply chain due diligence and auditing, human environmental rights, business and human rights, climate law, and corporate sustainability.

Stay up to date

Our monthly newsletter is published here on Substack, on LinkedIn, and on our blog. Subscribe to be notified when our newsletters are published.

[i] https://www.theicod.org/en/professional-design/what-is-design/what-is-design

[ii] https://www.ellenmacarthurfoundation.org/news/an-introduction-to-circular-design

[iii] https://www.ellenmacarthurfoundation.org/news/an-introduction-to-circular-design

[iv] https://www.bbc.com/news/business-68283317

[v] https://www.watercalculator.org/footprint/the-hidden-water-in-everyday-products/; https://www.triplepundit.com/story/2013/it-takes-2700-liters-water-make-t-shirt/54321

[vi] https://www.earthday.org/toxic-textiles-the-chemicals-in-our-clothing/; https://www.newsweek.com/2016/09/09/old-clothes-fashion-waste-crisis-494824.html; https://ensia.com/features/chemicals-clothes/

[vii] https://www.iea.org/reports/multiple-benefits-of-energy-efficiency/emissions-savings; https://www.iwu.fraunhofer.de/content/dam/iwu/en/documents/EffPro_en.pdf

[viii] https://www.sierraclub.org/sierra/2021-4-fall/material-world/planned-obsolescence-what-it-and-how-overcome-it; https://www.eesc.europa.eu/sites/default/files/resources/docs/factsheet-en.pdf

[ix] https://www.bbc.com/news/business-68283317

[x] https://euipo.europa.eu/ohimportal/de/web/guest/-/news/women-designers-underrepresented-and-paid-less-in-the-eu-study-reveals

https://euipo.europa.eu/tunnel-web/secure/webdav/guest/document_library/observatory/documents/reports/2023_Report_on_Women_in_Design/2023_Report_on_Women_in_Design_FullR_en.pdf

[xi] https://www.pmi.org/learning/thought-leadership/women-in-project-management-2023

[xii] https://www.fastcompany.com/90646834/only-4-8-of-designers-are-black-herman-miller-adobe-and-gap-unveil-a-plan-to-change-that

[xiii] https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2019/feb/23/truth-world-built-for-men-car-crashes

[xiv] https://evolveea.com/the-role-of-design-in-social-justice/

[xv] https://www.techxlab.org/solutions/embrace-infant-warmer

The importance of a just transition

The production of renewable energy technologies and batteries can bring an array of environmental and human rights issues with it. One example of this are the child labour and human rights violations sometimes found in cobalt mining operations. Cobalt is used in batteries and the demand for it has increased in light of the energy transition.[i] More broadly, access to and costs for renewable energy are also areas where issues can arise.

While a rapid and largescale transition over to renewable energy is urgently needed, steps must be taken to make sure communities, workers, and consumers are not left behind. Failing to do so can lead to resistance, community opposition, an “erosion of public support”, and even conflict. All of these can significantly impede both the progress and the pace of individual energy projects and the energy transition as a whole.[ii]

To achieve a just transition, the private sector, investors, and governments must ensure that corporate human rights due diligence is carried out well, that fair negotiations are held with impacted communities, and that measures are put into place to make sure the energy transition “delivers shared prosperity”.[iii]

Voluntary social compliance is missing the mark

The UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights and the OECD Due Diligence Guidance for Responsible Business Conduct provide companies with guidance on how to implement human rights due diligence throughout their supply chains and global operations. Despite being non-binding, both documents generally enjoy quite broad acceptance. This alone, however, has not been enough to prevent larger human rights issues from arising in corporations.

For example, the Business & Human Rights Resource Centre and Amnesty International USA have said that “leading venture capital (VC) firms are failing in their responsibility to respect human rights”. Their research shows that many “[l]eading VC firms have not implemented basic human rights due diligence processes to ensure the companies and technologies they fund are rights-respecting, as mandated by the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights”.[iv]

Social compliance audits are an $80 billion global industry. Over the past two decades, audits have been used as evidence by companies “that they have eliminated abuses in their supply chains”. Yet, an analysis of 40 000 audits by the Cornell professor, Sarosh Kuruvilla, in 2021 “found that nearly half had relied on forged or dubious documents”. Moreover, a recent New York Times “review of confidential audits conducted by several large firms shows that they have consistently missed child labor”. According to the New York Times, “[c]hildren were overlooked by auditors who were moving quickly, leaving early or simply not sent to the part of the supply chain where minors were working”. A key problem is that “[a]uditors typically start their inspections in the morning and stay for about seven hours, even at 3,000-person factories that operate around the clock”. Consequently, the “late afternoon and night shifts, where child labor violations most often occur, are almost never seen”.[v]

New due diligence requirements in the EU

To address issues arising in the business and human rights – and more broadly the corporate sustainability – space, the European Union (EU) has put together new regulations around due diligence. Two quite notable new regulations are the Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD) and the Forced Labour Regulation (FLR).

With the CSDDD, the EU is “requiring firms to mitigate their negative impact on human rights and the environment”. The rules will apply to both EU and non-EU companies that have over 1000 employees and a yearly turnover of EUR 450 million. They also apply to “franchises with a turnover of more than 80 million euro if at least 22.5 million was generated by royalties”. Companies falling within the scope of the directive are obliged “to alleviate the adverse impact their activities have on human rights and the environment, including slavery, child labour, labour exploitation, biodiversity loss, pollution and destruction of natural heritage”. They must also set up a “transition plan making their business model compatible with the global warming limit of 1.5°C under the Paris Agreement”. The obligation to “prevent, end or mitigate their negative effects” notably also falls on “upstream partners working in design, manufacture, transport and supply, and downstream partners, including those dealing with distribution, transport and storage”. These partners could also be companies that do not fall within the scope of the directive themselves. Each EU Member State must task a national supervisory authority with “monitoring, investigating and imposing penalties”. Companies that fail to comply with the rules will be held liable and they “will have to fully compensate their victims”. They may also be fined up to 5% of their global net turnover. If formally adopted, the new rules are expected to begin to apply in roughly 2 years for EU companies and 4 years for non-EU companies.[vi]

With the FLR, the EU aims to “ban products made with forced labour from the EU market”. Under the regulation, the European Commission will compile “a list of specific economic sectors in specific geographical areas where state-imposed forced labour exists”. The European Commission may also flag particular products or product groups to EU customs, meaning that importers and exporters would have to submit extra information on, for example, the manufacturer and suppliers to customs. The national authorities of EU Member States or the EU Commission will investigate cases of suspected use of forced labour within companies’ supply chains. Companies that fail to comply with the rules may be fined and their goods may be confiscated at the border or withdrawn from the EU market, as well as online marketplaces in the EU. The new rules will begin to apply in roughly 3 years.[vii]

Given the complexity of global supply chains, companies should be taking ongoing steps towards compliance. Concretely, this means that companies should already be assessing the potential negative impacts of their supply chains and business operations. They should also already be taking measures to prevent and mitigate these impacts. Moreover, companies should be monitoring their efforts on an ongoing basis and be ready to make necessary adjustments to their supply chains and business operations.

Ways forward

If we want the energy transition to be just, local communities, civil society, government, and the private sector must collaborate. We need effective participation of all key stakeholders and solid due diligence by investors and corporate actors. The risks to human rights must be continuously assessed, monitored, and addressed throughout all relevant supply chains. We will also need to address issues that arise in the context of energy justice, as well as more broadly in climate and environmental justice. Ultimately, we will also need to shift over to a circular economy.[viii]

Over the course of the following three newsletters, Christine Nikander and Saskia Tykkyläinen will be exploring the importance of sustainable design for a just transition. If you want to be notified when the newsletters come out, please subscribe below.

About the author

Christine Nikander is the founder of the environmental and social sustainability consultancy, Palsa & Pulk. She studied law at the universities of Columbia (New York), Edinburgh (Scotland), and Leiden (the Netherlands). Christine has been doing scholarly research into the legal and policy framework surrounding global supply chains, particularly of e-waste, since 2015. She has been writing The E-Waste Column weekly since 2022.

About Palsa & Pulk

Palsa & Pulk is an environmental and social sustainability consultancy. It provides compliance, governance, policy, and strategic advice to its clients. The consultancy’s work is mostly focused on supply chain governance, the just transition, circular economy, and human rights.

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[i] https://qz.com/battery-passport-sustainable-climate-tech-1851095928; https://www.business-humanrights.org/en/from-us/briefings/silicon-shadows-venture-capital-human-rights-and-the-lack-of-due-diligence/; https://www.nytimes.com/2023/12/28/us/migrant-child-labor-audits.html

[ii] https://www.reuters.com/sustainability/society-equity/comment-renewable-energy-revolution-will-only-happen-time-if-no-one-is-left-2023-11-22/; https://www.esginvestor.net/live/renewables-sector-unprepared-to-provide-fair-transition-bhrrc/; https://www.business-humanrights.org/en/from-us/briefings/renewable-energy-benchmark-2023/

[iii] https://www.reuters.com/sustainability/society-equity/comment-renewable-energy-revolution-will-only-happen-time-if-no-one-is-left-2023-11-22/; https://www.esginvestor.net/live/renewables-sector-unprepared-to-provide-fair-transition-bhrrc/; https://www.business-humanrights.org/en/from-us/briefings/renewable-energy-benchmark-2023/

[iv] https://www.business-humanrights.org/en/from-us/briefings/silicon-shadows-venture-capital-human-rights-and-the-lack-of-due-diligence/

[v] https://www.nytimes.com/2023/12/28/us/migrant-child-labor-audits.html

[vi] https://www.europarl.europa.eu/news/en/press-room/20240318IPR19415/first-green-light-to-new-bill-on-firms-impact-on-human-rights-and-environment

[vii] https://www.europarl.europa.eu/news/en/press-room/20240301IPR18592/deal-on-eu-ban-on-products-made-with-forced-labour

[viii] https://amp-theguardian-com.cdn.ampproject.org/c/s/amp.theguardian.com/environment/2022/nov/29/evidence-grows-of-forced-labour-and-slavery-in-production-of-solar-panels-wind-turbines; https://gizmodo.com/over-half-the-worlds-energy-transition-minerals-are-on-1849865104; https://www.transportenvironment.org/discover/how-europe-can-improve-the-way-global-extractive-companies-do-business/