Biodiversity protection is vital to life on Earth. Healthy oceans and forests provide us with the food we eat, the air we breathe, the water we drink and much more. Indigenous Peoples, local and coastal communities have been protecting these ecosystems for generations. Their cultures, knowledge and livelihoods are centred around a deep connection to nature.

Yet, the world’s oceans have been plundered by industrial fishing, filled with plastic pollution and affected by climate change. Deforestation for commodities like soy, palm oil, meat and dairy are pushing forests to the brink, and a new rush for minerals such as lithium, nickel, cobalt and copper for the energy transition, AI, new technology and the military means these crucial ecosystems are at greater risk.

From Chile to Indonesia, from the DRC to Sweden, mining has been poisoning lands, displacing communities and leaving a trail of destruction behind. The rush for so-called “critical minerals” even threatens the world’s pristine and understudied deep sea ecosystems. 

How to protect forests and oceans

To ensure a livable planet for future generations, we must protect vast areas including forests and the ocean from mining. Greenpeace International, together with Mighty Earth,Rainforest Foundation Norway and Fern, released an indicative global Restricted Areas Map and Framework for governments, investors and companies using raw materials extracted from Earth. Advancing and applying the Restricted Areas framework is a crucial step to ensure mining does not destroy essential biodiversity, natural ecosystems, carbon storage and freshwater systems.

As crucial leaders and stewards of nature protection, Indigenous Peoples’ and local communities’ rights must be respected. The Restricted Areas Framework requires Free Prior and Informed Consent before any mining activities happen in their territories. The map then combines multiple environmental and conservation datasets to identify landscapes and natural ecosystems that should be off-limits or ‘no-go zones’ to mining. The map also identifies hotspots where mining of raw materials overlaps with Restricted Areas, andserves as a starting point for further discussions and more detailed mapping of locations where mining poses unacceptable environmental or social risks.

What areas are critical for protection

A key global data set used for the Global Restricted Areas map is the recently updated Intact Forest Landscapes (IFL) map. Identified through satellite imagery, IFLs are the last remaining large undisturbed forest landscapes on Earth – a mosaic of forests and associated natural ecosystems of at least 50,000 hectares, showing minimal signs of human activity or habitat fragmentation. They are massive stores of carbon and biodiversity, as well being the traditional territories for many Indigenous Peoples and local communities. The data, recently updated by World Resources Institute, Global Land Analysis and Discovery lab at the University of Maryland, and Greenpeace International Global Mapping Hub, is available on WRI’s Global Forest Watch platform.

At CBD COP15, governments agreed to the landmark Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework to protect biodiversity, including the target of protecting at least 30% of lands and seas by 2030, and rights-based approaches. The Restricted Areas framework and map provide a useful tool to identify additional areas for protection or Other Effective area-based Conservation Measures (OECMs), as well as Indigenous and Traditional Territories (ITTs). It reinforces the need for rights-based approaches to any protection or conservation, and the need for Direct Access Financing (DAF) for Indigenous Peoples and local communities for biodiversity conservation, restoration and management. 

A transition away from fossil fuels without destroying the planet is both necessary and possible

Transitioning away from fossil fuels is vital for our future on the planet. But the current “critical minerals” rush, driven by geopolitical competition and different sectors, threatens to undermine the possibility of a just and green energy transition. Mining often causes devastating environmental damage and social harm, repeating extractivist and colonial patterns and disregarding the rights of Indigenous Peoples and local communities. There are numerous reports of workers’ rights violations, land grabs from Indigenous Peoples, and threats to communities connected to the mining industry. Around the world, environmental legal frameworks are being revised or weakened under the justification of national “interest” or for “security” reasons. 

With responsible political leadership, it is possible to meet global climate targets while limiting mining. According to the report Beyond Extraction, commissioned by Greenpeace International and authored by the Institute for Sustainable Futures at the University of Technology, Sydney, there are several solutions for achieving an energy transition that doesn’t put further pressure on Earth’s vital ecosystems. A key recommendation of the report is that decision-makers must prioritise mineral use for essential energy transition purposes, with public transport, improved recycling programmes, and advanced battery technologies shown as crucial solutions to limit mineral demand.

From deep in the Amazon to the pristine paradise and UNESCO Geopark of Raja Ampat, Papua, Indonesia, Indigenous Peoples, local and coastal communities are resisting mining on their territories around the world. Protecting human rights and ecological integrity must be non-negotiable foundations of a fast and just energy transition. World leaders, investors, and companies must implement a Restricted Areas framework and recognise Indigenous Peoples’ territories and rights, and protect the world’s most sensitive places. We must stand with the guardians of the forest to protect the ecosystems that maintain all life on Earth. 

Grant Rosoman is a Global Forest Solutions Advisor at Greenpeace International and Leon Auty is a Research and Communications Assistant at Greenpeace International.

Learn more at restrictedareasfrommining.org

Brussels, Belgium – Six Greenpeace Belgium activists unrolled a massive banner in Brussels’s historic Grand Place square, ahead of a celebration of the United States’ 250th anniversary in the EU capital. The 600-square-metre banner read “War. Greed. Energy Crisis. What’s there to celebrate?” condemning using the occasion to promote Trump’s political and corporate agenda.

John Noel, Campaigner, Greenpeace International said: “Read the room: this lavish celebration is utterly misplaced. Trump is waging war, threatening allies and adversaries alike, and driving economic disruption across the globe – what’s to celebrate? While EU leaders seem to have made excuses to dodge this party, it’s also time that they stood up to Trump’s bullying too and make sure the EU protects people and planet instead of billionaires’ profits.”

The celebration in Brussels takes place against a backdrop of intensifying global instability driven by the White House. Greenpeace Belgium warns that Trump’s erratic foreign policy and ‘energy dominance’ agenda are fueling conflict, worsening the global energy crisis, and weakening international cooperation. By pairing aggressive trade maneuvers with the dismantling of democratic institutions and environmental protections, Trump’s administration is leaving a trail of economic and ecological disruption worldwide.[1]

Joeri Thijs, Campaigner, Greenpeace Belgium added from the protest: “It is shameful that Belgian authorities are rolling out the red carpet for this administration in the heart of Europe, while US policies are wreaking havoc worldwide.While Belgium and the EU are finally weaning themselves off fossil gas from Putin’s Russia, we are rapidly increasing our dangerous dependence on fracked gas imported from the US. At the same time, Trump is actively pushing to weaken EU environmental safeguards. Continuing to coddle this administration severely jeopardises both the EU’s climate ambitions and its independence from bullies.”

US officials are hosting a celebration in the nearby Parc du Cinquantenaire in the EU quarter later the same day, with thousands of political, diplomatic and corporate representatives on the guest list. The Belgian Prime Minister Bart De Wever and Nato Secretary-General Mark Rutte are reportedly attending, though high-profile invitees from the EU institutions such as European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, European Council President Antonio Costa and EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas declined to say they would attend.[2]

ENDS

Photos and video available free to use in the Greenpeace Media Library.

Notes:

[1] US demands EU dismantle green regulations in threat to trade deal (Financial Times)

[2] Who dares snub Trump’s party | Euractiv (Euractiv)

Contacts:

Greenpeace Belgium press desk : +32 (0)496 26 31 91,  bpress@greenpeace.org

Greenpeace International Press Desk, +31 (0)20 718 2470 (available 24 hours), pressdesk.int@greenpeace.org