G20 2025: Critical Minerals to drive inclusive economic growth, resilience and Global South benefits – Tribune India

G20 Critical Minerals Framework: A Catalyst for Sustainable Development Goals

Introduction: Aligning Mineral Resources with the 2030 Agenda

The G20, in its 2025 summit declaration, has established the G20 Critical Minerals Framework. This initiative aims to transform critical mineral resources into a primary driver for sustainable development and inclusive economic growth, directly supporting the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The framework recognizes that the increasing demand for these minerals, driven by sustainable transitions and digitization, presents a significant opportunity to advance the 2030 Agenda, particularly in mineral-producing developing nations.

Core Objectives and Contribution to Specific SDGs

The framework provides a voluntary, non-binding blueprint designed to create sustainable, transparent, and resilient mineral value chains. Its objectives are intrinsically linked to several key SDGs:

• SDG 8 (Decent Work and Economic Growth): The framework promotes local beneficiation and value-addition at the source. This strategy aims to move producer countries beyond raw material exports, fostering industrialization, creating quality jobs, and ensuring inclusive economic growth.
• SDG 9 (Industry, Innovation, and Infrastructure): By seeking to unlock investment in exploration and diversify value chains, the framework supports the development of resilient infrastructure and promotes sustainable industrialization.
• SDG 12 (Responsible Consumption and Production): A central goal is to strengthen governance and implement robust economic, social, and environmental standards for sustainable mining practices, ensuring resource management is both efficient and equitable.
• SDG 7 (Affordable and Clean Energy) & SDG 13 (Climate Action): The framework acknowledges that a stable supply of critical minerals is essential for the global transition to clean energy and for building a resilient response to climate change.

Addressing Development Challenges in the Global South

The G20 declaration identifies several challenges that prevent mineral-endowed developing countries from fully benefiting from their resources, thereby impeding progress on the SDGs. The framework is designed to address these issues directly:

1. Underinvestment in exploration and production.
2. Limited domestic value addition and beneficiation capabilities.
3. Lack of access to necessary technologies for sustainable extraction and processing.
4. Pervasive socio-economic and environmental constraints.

Guiding Principles for Sustainable and Equitable Development

The framework operates on principles that safeguard national interests while promoting global sustainability goals:

• Sovereign Rights: It fully preserves the sovereign right of countries to utilize their natural endowments for national development and inclusive growth.
• Stewardship and Participation: It mandates strong economic, social, and environmental stewardship, emphasizing conservation and the active participation of local communities.
• Resilience and Diversification: It aims to make value chains more resilient to disruptions from geopolitical tensions, pandemics, or natural disasters by diversifying sources, routes, markets, and processing locations. This contributes to global supply security and allows more producer countries to participate in and benefit from these value chains.
• Partnerships for the Goals (SDG 17): The framework calls for enhanced collaboration among governments, the private sector, financial institutions, development partners, and local communities to unlock the full potential of critical minerals for equitable development and global prosperity.

Analysis of SDGs, Targets, and Indicators

1. Which SDGs are addressed or connected to the issues highlighted in the article?

• SDG 7: Affordable and Clean Energy

  The article mentions that “sustainable transitions” and “just energy transitions” are driving the demand for critical minerals. These transitions are central to achieving SDG 7, as critical minerals are essential components for renewable energy technologies like solar panels and wind turbines.

• SDG 8: Decent Work and Economic Growth

  The G20 framework’s core aim is to leverage critical minerals for “inclusive economic growth.” It emphasizes that mineral-producing countries should “derive maximum benefit from their resources” through “local beneficiation” and “value-addition,” moving beyond “raw material exports.” This directly supports the goal of promoting sustained, inclusive, and sustainable economic growth.

• SDG 9: Industry, Innovation, and Infrastructure

  The article highlights the role of critical minerals in “rapid digitisation, and industrial innovation.” The framework aims to build “resilient critical minerals value chains that underpin industrialisation” and “unlock investment in mineral exploration,” which aligns with the goal of building resilient infrastructure and fostering sustainable industrialization.

• SDG 10: Reduced Inequalities

  The framework specifically targets the challenge faced by “producer countries, especially in the developing world,” aiming to ensure they can “harness their endowments for inclusive economic growth.” By promoting local value addition and fair benefit-sharing, it seeks to reduce the economic inequalities between mineral-exporting developing nations and consuming developed nations.

• SDG 12: Responsible Consumption and Production

  The call for “sustainable mining practices,” “environmental stewardship,” and creating “sustainable, transparent, stable and resilient mineral value chains” is directly linked to ensuring sustainable consumption and production patterns. The framework encourages the implementation of “robust, non-discriminatory and relevant standards on economic, social and environmental aspects.”

• SDG 16: Peace, Justice, and Strong Institutions

  The framework emphasizes the need for “strengthening governance” and promoting “transparent” value chains. It also highlights the importance of “community participation” and preserving the “sovereign right of mineral-endowed countries,” which are key elements of building effective, accountable, and inclusive institutions at all levels.

• SDG 17: Partnerships for the Goals

  The article explicitly states that the G20 declaration “encourages collaboration among governments, private-sector actors, investors, financial institutions, development partners, and local communities.” This call for multi-stakeholder partnerships to achieve sustainable development is the essence of SDG 17.

2. What specific targets under those SDGs can be identified based on the article’s content?

• SDG 7: Affordable and Clean Energy

  • Target 7.a: By 2030, enhance international cooperation to facilitate access to clean energy research and technology, including renewable energy… and promote investment in energy infrastructure and clean energy technology. The G20 framework itself is a form of international cooperation aimed at securing minerals needed for these technologies.

• SDG 8: Decent Work and Economic Growth

  • Target 8.2: Achieve higher levels of economic productivity through diversification, technological upgrading and innovation, including through a focus on high-value added… sectors. The article’s emphasis on “local beneficiation to process minerals domestically” and creating “value-addition” directly supports this target.

• SDG 9: Industry, Innovation, and Infrastructure

  • Target 9.2: Promote inclusive and sustainable industrialization and, by 2030, significantly raise industry’s share of employment and gross domestic product, in line with national circumstances, and double its share in least developed countries. The framework’s goal to have critical minerals “underpin industrialisation and sustainable development” in producer countries aligns with this target.
  • Target 9.b: Support domestic technology development, research and innovation in developing countries… by ensuring a conducive policy environment for, inter alia, industrial diversification and value addition to commodities. The framework’s aim to “promote local beneficiation at source” is a direct reflection of this target.

• SDG 12: Responsible Consumption and Production

  • Target 12.2: By 2030, achieve the sustainable management and efficient use of natural resources. The framework’s call for “sustainable mining practices” and “environmental stewardship” directly addresses this target.

• SDG 16: Peace, Justice, and Strong Institutions

  • Target 16.6: Develop effective, accountable and transparent institutions at all levels. The framework’s objective to promote “transparent… mineral value chains” and “strengthen governance” supports this target.
  • Target 16.7: Ensure responsive, inclusive, participatory and representative decision-making at all levels. The mention of ensuring “local community participation” in the framework is a direct link to this target.

• SDG 17: Partnerships for the Goals

  • Target 17.17: Encourage and promote effective public, public-private and civil society partnerships, building on the experience and resourcing strategies of partnerships. The article’s call for collaboration “among governments, private-sector actors, investors, financial institutions, development partners, and local communities” is a clear embodiment of this target.

3. Are there any indicators mentioned or implied in the article that can be used to measure progress towards the identified targets?

• For Target 8.2 (Economic Productivity and Value Addition)

  • Implied Indicator: The shift from “raw material exports” to “value-addition and broad-based development.” Progress could be measured by the increase in the manufacturing value added from mineral processing as a percentage of a producer country’s GDP.

• For Target 9.2 (Sustainable Industrialization)

  • Implied Indicator: The level of “local beneficiation at source.” This can be measured by tracking the volume and value of processed minerals versus raw minerals exported from developing countries.

• For Target 12.2 (Sustainable Management of Natural Resources)

  • Implied Indicator: The implementation of “sustainable mining practices” and “strong economic, social, and environmental standards.” Progress could be tracked by the number of mining operations certified under internationally recognized sustainability standards or the adoption of national legal frameworks for sustainable mining.

• For Target 16.7 (Inclusive and Participatory Decision-Making)

  • Implied Indicator: The extent of “local community participation.” This could be measured through surveys or assessments of community engagement levels and the existence of formal mechanisms for community consultation in mining projects.

• For Target 17.17 (Multi-stakeholder Partnerships)

  • Implied Indicator: The level of collaboration and investment from different stakeholders. This can be measured by the amount of public and private investment unlocked for mineral exploration and processing in developing countries under the G20 framework.

4. SDGs, Targets, and Indicators Table

Source: tribuneindia.com