Human rights are essential to ensuring that the global energy transition benefits both people and the environment, according to Elisa Morgera, the UN Special Rapporteur on human rights and climate change. In her latest report to the UN General Assembly, Morgera emphasized that States must take action to address inequities in energy production, extraction, and access. She highlighted that renewable energy, particularly solar and wind power, is critical for phasing out fossil fuels, mitigating climate change, and protecting human rights from its severe impacts.
However, Morgera warned that the expansion of renewable energy projects and the extraction of minerals for the energy transition have sometimes resulted in serious human rights violations and displacement worldwide. Indigenous Peoples, peasants, women, children, and workers have disproportionately suffered, with some projects also causing environmental harm that threatens rights to food, water, and a healthy environment.
The Special Rapporteur stressed that existing scientific knowledge and human rights norms can prevent such negative outcomes. She urged governments to carefully assess the social and environmental impacts of renewable energy and mining projects throughout their full life cycle, and to adopt inclusive, integrated planning and coherent legal frameworks.
Morgera called for States to support co-developed energy transition solutions through genuine dialogue with affected communities, incorporating Indigenous science, traditional knowledge, and the lived experiences of those already impacted by climate change and megaprojects. She also advised limiting mining to only what is essential for the energy transition, avoiding demands that drive climate-harming sectors.
She concluded that while a rapid energy transition is necessary, it must be carefully managed to ensure climate change mitigation, ecological and human health benefits, reduction of energy poverty, and lower living costs, rather than creating new inequities or harms.
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