Mining for the energy transition needs to respect human rights | Renewable Energy

When Clarissa Mwanza spoke to me of her work mining zinc in central Zambia, she looked anxious. Her husband, working alongside her, nearly died last year during a mining accident. He injured his leg when the ground caved in and spent a month in the hospital. Other miners buried up to their necks were seriously injured too.

Mwanza told me she also worries about her seven-year-old daughter, who sometimes joins her at the mine, packing rocks into sacks. The girl was diagnosed with lead poisoning last year, most likely from the toxic, lead-contaminated ground at the mine. Mwanza continues zinc…