Social impacts of critical mineral exploration on Indigenous peoples’ lands: A case study from Solomon Islands

Abstract

The growing uptake of energy transition technologies in response to global and national climate policy goals to transition to a low-carbon future is increasing demand for critical minerals. This increased demand is expected to intensify mineral exploration, particularly on Indigenous peoples’ lands. However, mineral exploration is a protracted process, fraught with uncertainty, and few mineral exploration projects progress to development. While the social impacts of mine construction, operation, and increasingly, closure are well documented in the literature, there is limited empirical evidence on the social impacts of mineral exploration on Indigenous peoples. This paper contributes to this gap in the literature by drawing on the case of nickel exploration in Solomon Islands. Drawing on qualitative data elicited from semi-structured interviews, this research indicates that activities associated with critical mineral exploration on Indigenous peoples’ lands generate more negative than positive impacts for affected communities and interested parties. Overlooking the social impacts of critical mineral exploration can lead to community opposition, which in turn can lead to project abandonment, thereby potentially delaying the energy transition and achievement of global climate goals. The findings underscore the importance of ‘just transition’ in the context of the accelerating energy transition to a low-carbon future.