“Using the tool developed by civil society, our community negotiated a fairer share of mining royalties. This is helping our Indigenous Peoples flourish and path their own development journey.” 

This was the powerful reflection from a participant from the Philippines who attended the Asia-Pacific Civil Society Regional Convening 2025: The People’s Transition in October, held in Manila.  

The event was part of a project led by Transparency International’s Accountable Mining Programme and Natural Resource Governance Institute (NRGI) and funded through the World Bank’s Extractives Global Programmatic Support (EGPS) Multi-Donor Trust Fund.  The Philippines event was one of four TI coordinated peer learning workshops happening globally to bring together civil society practitioners working on mining sector governance together to learn, share and foster collaboration.  

In Manila, the discussions focused on the context of rapidly accelerating demand for transition minerals, such as nickel, copper, and cobalt, putting  climate action, human rights, civic space, and environmental sustainability at risk. In Australia and across Asia and the Pacific, governments and communities are at a critical juncture, holding vast reserves of these transition minerals.

Yet, without the right safeguards in place, the energy transition threatens to replicate and even worsen, the historic patterns of exploitation, inequality, and environmental destruction. Among the many measures recognised by civil groups across the region as necessary for delivering a just energy transition; strong civic space, free, prior and informed consent (FPIC), gender equality, and robust anti-corruption measures were non-negotiable pillars. 

Many participants, including those from Australia, Malaysia, Solomon Islands, Indonesia, and the Philippines, voiced common concerns; including the continuing lack of meaningful public participation and risks to civic space. This sparked loud calls for mechanisms to ensure meaningful community participation, defend and promote space for civil society.  

One of the strongest themes that emerged was the centrality of free, prior, and informed consent (FPIC) and Indigenous people’s rights. With 69 percent of energy transition minerals projects located within Indigenous and peasant peoples’ lands, participants affirmed that upholding Indigenous Rights through FPIC is crucial. Participants from the Philippines and PNG highlighted tools and examples where communities were strengthening community participation. TI Australia’s CEO outlined five examples of how EITI data has helped reduce the risk of corruption and benefitted all stakeholders. The unique governance model of EITI as a key mechanism for driving transparency and accountability in the extractive sector was highlighted as an important platform for civil society. 

Ensuring women are active participants in decision-making processes was another cross-cutting theme throughout the convening.  A representative from Solomon Islands noted that many resource-rich provinces lack women’s participation. The discussions prompted calls for stronger gender-inclusive participation, greater data availability and gender disaggregated data across the project cycle, and practical tools, including the need for checklists for gender requirements in mining. One participant raised that: 

 ‘gender resembles the pair of glasses we use to see the world; without it, we cannot see the world as it really is’. 

As corruption continues to pose significant challenges in many resource-rich nations, the need to establish robust anti-corruption measures was another central thread of the convening. The mining license or permit process is recognised as the most corruption-prone stage across the value chain which was reflected in presentations from across the region. It was also noted in Indonesia, Philippines and Timor, how these risks are being exacerbated by attempts to ‘fast-track’ approval for the awarding of mining licenses.  This risk being turbo-charged in jurisdictions identified as corruption-prone.

Drawing on the extensive work through movement’s Accountable Mining Programme (AMP) and experience supporting accountability efforts in the region, the AMP highlighted the broad-sweeping opportunities of beneficial ownership transparency as a powerful accountability tool. 

Across multiple sessions, including one on the various tools available for monitoring ESG parameters for a just energy transition and mining, and another dedicated session on the EITI 2023 standard, participants discussed how the EITI can promote good governance through transparency on revenues, contracts, productions and beneficial ownership. Participants also raised opportunities to enhance the data management to improve accessibility, including how complex information can be translated for greater community accessibility and equipping civil society with the tools to monitor extractive data more effectively.