Towards a Socioecological & Systemic Transformation in Response to the Narratives of ‘Green Transition’

YLNM is an integral part of the Thematic Social Forum on Mining and the Extractive Economy. At Belém do Pará, alongside COP30, TSF-mining was present. We held our International Steering Committee gathering, which was followed by a meeting for all TSF-mining participants. We concluded our work in Belém by being part of the grand march for climate justice, followed by an event at the People’s Summit. TSF-mining was one of the key animators of Axis 3: A Just, Popular and Inclusive Transition.

With the assembled groups and organisations, we shared and affirmed our collective commitment to a socio-ecological and systemic transformation that confronts the dominant “green” transition narratives promoted by corporations, governments, and international financial institutions.

We agreed that a just and sustainable transformation cannot emerge from the same extractivist system that caused the crisis. It must dismantle corporate power, challenge neocolonial dependencies, and redefine our relationship with nature based on care, solidarity, and ecological balance.

Post-extractivism offers the real and necessary path forward. For the Rights of Peoples and the Planet!

Read the full declaration below and here

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Thematic Social Forum on Mining and Extractivist Economy (TSF-Mining) People’s Summit at COP 30 – November 2025, Belém do Pará, Brazil

We, the movements, grassroots organizations, and activists of the Thematic Social Forum on Mining and the Extractivist Economy (TSF-Mining), gathered at the People’s Summit at COP 30 in Belém do Pará, affirm our collective position and commitment to a socio-ecological and systemic transformation that confronts the dominant “green” transition narratives promoted by corporations, governments, and international financial institutions.

A so-called green or energy transition is presented as a solution to the climate crisis, yet it reproduces the same extractivist and capitalist logic responsible for ecological destruction and social injustice. By placing the mining and extractivist system at the center of the response to climate change, this narrative creates a false and dangerous illusion—one that hides the continuation of a predatory and colonial model exploiting people and territories in the name of decarbonization and technological progress and militarization.

Under the banners of “clean energy” and “digital transition”, transition minerals are being extracted through violent, polluting, and exclusionary practices that devastate ecosystems, displace indigenous and traditional peoples, and deepen inequalities—especially in the Global South. This model of expanded mining extractivism doesn’t just fuel wars, territorial militarisation, and the criminalisation of defenders. It also drives massive military budget increases in the US and NATO countries, feeding an ever-growing war economy. This militarised agenda is a major force behind the rising demand for mineral extraction — tearing apart people’s lives and lands, and turning entire territories into sacrifice zones to sustain the consumption patterns of the Global North. We reject this extractivist transition.

The idea that mining more lithium, nickel, copper, or cobalt will “save the planet” is false. It’s not a solution—it’s the continuation of the problem. Tracking or certifying these minerals under so-called sustainability standards won’t fix the deep social and ecological harm. It only greenwashes mining and legitimises extractivism. This path sustains the same system that values profit over life, deepens global inequality, and accelerates the planetary crisis.

A just and sustainable transformation cannot emerge from the same extractivist system that caused the crisis. It must dismantle corporate power, challenge neocolonial dependencies, and redefine our relationship with nature based on care, solidarity, and ecological balance. We therefore assert the urgent need to build a socio-ecological and systemic transformation that:

• • • Upholds the right of communities and Indigenous peoples to say NO to mining and other destructive projects, ensuring Free, Prior, and Informed Consent;
    • Advances post-extractivist and decolonial alternatives, guided by planetary limits, peoples’ sovereignty, and ecological justice;
    • Promotes degrowth and reduced consumption, particularly in the Global North;
    • Strengthens South–South cooperation for autonomy and technological sovereignty;
    • Ensures binding community consent and protection for environmental defenders; and
    • Recognizes and enforces the Rights of Nature as the foundation for sustainable and democratic life on Earth.

Post-extractivism offers the real and necessary path forward.

It values the sustainable ways of life of local peoples, diversifies economies, and places the dignity and well-being of all beings—human and non-human—above the logic of accumulation and exploitation, and builds a future rooted in justice, democracy, and solidarity.

We call on all peoples and movements to unite in rejecting false “green” solutions and to build together a profound socio-ecological and systemic transformation that overcomes extractivism in all its forms, and builds a future rooted in justice, democracy, and solidarity.

For the Rights of Peoples and the Planet!

TSF Mining-Belem, Brazil-15 Nov 2025