<![CDATA[The imperative to achieve global net-zero carbon emissions by 2050 has catalyzed an unprecedented surge in demand for critical energy transition minerals—including lithium, cobalt, nickel, copper, and rare earth elements—essential for manufacturing clean energy technologies. However, this green transition risks reproducing historical patterns of colonial extraction, human rights violations, and localized environmental destruction across the Global South and resource frontiers in the Global North. This study examines the legal tension between critical mineral scarcity and international human rights obligations, proposing a fundamental redefinition of mining concession frameworks. Utilizing a qualitative normative-legal methodology and comparative regulatory analysis, this research evaluates two core analytical themes: first, the structural human rights paradoxes, racial capitalism, resource nationalism, and supply chain vulnerabilities inherent in critical mineral extraction; and second, the institutional integration of mandatory human rights and environmental due diligence (mHREDD) standards—such as the European Union Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (Directive (EU) 2024/1760) and Critical Raw Materials Act—into host-state mining concession contracts. The analysis demonstrates that transforming traditional investor-centric concessions into conditional, compliance-sequenced legal instruments featuring enforceable revocation clauses and transnational civil liability mechanisms is essential to establishing a substantive rule of law capable of reconciling critical mineral security with global environmental justice.]]>
