By Jibril Abdul Mumuni
Accra, Aug. 24, GNA – Dr Clement Sefa-Nyarko, Project Lead on Justice in Critical Minerals Governance and Energy Transition, has called for stronger community participation in mineral extraction decisions.
He said communities directly affected by mining activities must have a greater voice in decisions on mineral extraction and governance to ensure justice and equitable development.
Dr Sefa-Nyarko made the call at the launch of the Political Minerals Governance Transition Project, an international research initiative involving Ghana, Chile and Australia.
The project seeks to examine how different stakeholders, particularly communities living in mining areas, perceive justice in the governance and extraction of critical minerals such as lithium, graphite and cobalt.
Dr Sefa-Nyarko said although critical minerals had become central to the global transition from fossil fuels to cleaner energy technologies, the perspectives of mining host communities often remained underrepresented in policy discussions.
He said governments, communities, traditional authorities and civil society groups often held differing views on what constituted justice in resource extraction.
“The main challenge is that we do not have a common understanding of what justice is,” he said.
Dr Sefa-Nyarko explained that while governments tended to focus on economic management
and ensuring a smooth transition from fossil fuel-dependent economies, community members were more concerned about how they would benefit from mining activities undertaken on their lands.
“Community members think about justice in terms of how they can benefit from any process that transitions us from fossil-based technologies to cleaner ones,” he said.
Dr Sefa-Nyarko said existing discussions on extractive justice were largely shaped by perspectives from developed countries, resulting in limited incorporation of the experiences and realities of communities in resource-rich countries.
“Most of these conceptions of justice are viewed from a Global North perspective. There is often no holistic and comprehensive conception of justice that brings everyone to the table,” he said.
Dr Sefa-Nyarko said the new project would seek to address the gap by engaging directly with affected populations and incorporating local knowledge into policy conversations.
He said affected communities often bore the environmental and social costs of mining and therefore deserved a greater role in shaping decisions on resource extraction and benefit-sharing.
Mining communities in Ghana have historically argued that although they bore the environmental and social impacts of extraction, they often had limited influence over decisions concerning mining projects.
Mr Samuel A. Jinapor, Former Minister for Lands and Natural Resources, said discussions on critical minerals governance must be grounded in justice, particularly for communities that bore the direct impacts of mining activities.
He said while host communities were often described as stakeholders, they were the people whose lands, livelihoods and environments were most affected by resource extraction.
Mr Jinapor said mining justice should go beyond compensation and include meaningful community participation in decision-making processes.
He said communities were more likely to support mining projects when governance processes were transparent, inclusive and fair.
Mr Jinapor also underscored the need for resource-rich countries to derive greater value from their mineral wealth through local participation, value addition, technology transfer and skills development.
A just energy transition, he said, should create opportunities for countries such as Ghana to move beyond exporting raw minerals and capture more benefits along the value chain.
GNA
Edited by Kenneth Sackey
Reporter: Jibril Abdul Mumuni