Pedal to the Metal: Safeguarding Local Communities’ Affected Rights in Developing Countries’ Mining Legal Frameworks Amid the Global Rare Earth Race

This article explores how developing countries can address the challenges of balancing economic benefits and local human rights when drafting legal frameworks for rare-earth elements (REE) mining. REEs are critical minerals widely used in defence and green energy industries. Other developing countries with abundant unexploited REE reserves are now facing growing international attention and economic opportunities after China’s recent restrictions on REE exports, amid tensions with the United States. However, like other mining activities, relaxing regulations to attract investment often comes at the long-term expense of public health, living conditions, and labour standards. The article first identifies some common challenges developing countries face when walking the fine line between REE mining’s economic benefits and human rights impacts. These include the pressure to adopt low regulatory standards due to technological and economic dependency, as well as weak enforcement driven by corruption. It then proposes that REE-rich developing nations agree on a common set of minimum standard practices to ensure that raising their current standards does not discourage prospective partners. It would also address possible limitations to this approach such as countries’ divergent priorities, market effects, and potential issues with competition law. Then, to find solutions for the mining corruption challenge, the article reflects on international examples like Tanzania and China to conclude that regulations should ensure frequent supervision and assessment to prevent and detect corruption before, during, and even after every project.