The global energy transition, essential to combat the climate crisis, is based on increased extraction of critical minerals such as cobalt and lithium. However, behind speeches about the green transition is a truth that is not said: « Southern communities pay the high price of a transition that excludes them. »
Our national governments often face conflicting injunctions between the need to generate income and the protection of their populations and the environment. Foreign investment must be attracted through mining concessions, tax advantages and legal stability. But is it fair to erase our memories and identities for the benefit of multinationals?
The real problem is that upstream development promises are systematically contradicted downstream by the realities of poverty, conflict and environmental degradation. CARF is convinced that the solution lies in intellectual sovereignty and the implementation of radical governance reform. CARF advocates an energy transition guided by ethical, inclusive and remedial principles. This transition must recognize the rights of peoples, the sovereignty of territories and the need to reassess relations between the North and the South.
Our mission is to promote critical and pedagogical reflection, aimed at deconstructing the dominant narratives and developing alternatives rooted in our realities. At CARF, we train community leaders, document impacts using tools such as the Alertsmines mechanism and support resilience models, including responsible agricultural and mining cooperatives. We value local voices and experiences to strengthen our advocacy for an equitable distribution of responsibilities and resources.
