CETM Toolkit

The Critical Energy Transition Minerals (CETM) Toolkit: A resource for UN Resident Coordinator Offices, Country Teams and Resident Agencies

The world is facing multiple interconnected and overlapping crises, including climate change, environmental pollution, energy poverty and security, food and water scarcity, increasingly frequent and extreme natural disasters, and health emergencies. Many of these challenges can be addressed, at least in part, through a rapid transition to cleaner and more sustainable energy sources.  

The success of the transition from fossil fuels to renewable energy sources will heavily depend on the availability and accessibility of critical energy transition minerals (CETMs). Increasingly, countries are asking how they can meet increasing demand for CETMs in a sustainable and secure manner. 

Addressing this question necessitates a radical and profound shift in resource management, one that accounts for interdependencies and trade-offs among various aspects of CETM production and consumption. It requires a more holistic, systemic approach that integrates economic, environmental, social, and governance (E2SG) dimensions of CETM management. At the same time, it must pay special attention to the needs of, and opportunities for, least developed countries (LDCs), landlocked developing countries (LLDCs), and other countries in special situations, many of which are or could potentially become suppliers of CETMs. 

To support this shift, the Secretary General’s UN Working Group on Transforming the Extractive Industries for Sustainable Development is working to leverage the full capacity of the UN system to develop and deploy solutions to this challenge. One key output of the Working Group’s activities is this CETM Toolkit. 

The CETM Toolkit is a curated collection of resources designed to help UN Resident Coordinator Offices (RCOs), UN Country Teams, UN Resident Agencies, and other relevant UN stakeholders to engage with countries that seek to better comprehend, evaluate and enhance the sustainability and security of CETM supply chains. The CETM Toolkit was developed under the leadership of the UN Regional Economic Commissions, in close consultation with other Working Group members, RCOs, and others. The Toolkit showcases best practices and tools from UN agencies and partners that can assist in the sustainable production and consumption of CETMs while minimizing unintended negative consequences. 

The Toolkit is organized into six categories, each covering a different aspect of CETM management: 

  • Primary Mineral Production 

  • Governance and Transparency 

  • A Just Transition 

  • Value Chain Addition, Participation and Resilience 

  • Technology, Innovation and Circularity 

  • Financing and Investment 

While it is anticipated that the CETM Toolkit will be useful in a broad range of contexts, the target audience is UN Resident Coordinator Offices and Country Teams, and the Toolkit has therefore been developed with those stakeholders in mind.  

The initial version of the CETM Toolkit can be found here.  

For any questions, please write to: 

Matthew Wittenstein | [email protected] 

Harikrishnan Tulsidas | [email protected] 

ESCAP Energy Division | [email protected]  

The Working Group on Transforming the Extractive Industries | [email protected]