Decarbonizing our global economy and transitioning to renewable power is urgently needed if we are to avert climate catastrophe. Rechargeable batteries provide an essential technology that will unlock this transformation. Unsurprisingly, demand for minerals used in these batteries—including cobalt, copper, graphite, lithium, and nickel—is surging. And while large-scale mining has the potential to provide economic benefits in the form of taxes and jobs, the sector remains linked to major human rights abuses, gender-based violence, environmental harm, corruption, and political capture. Recent global studies with large data sets of mining projects have found that an estimated 50 to 80 percent of transition minerals are located on or near the lands of Indigenous peoples—putting them at unique risks as the mining sector expands to meet decarbonization goals. For Indigenous peoples, free, prior, and informed consent (FPIC) is a human right guaranteed under international law. It safeguards the protection and realization of their collective autonomies, resilience, and right to self-determination. FPIC is a collective decision-making process that ensures Indigenous peoples have a say in whether and how mining moves forward. The safeguard provided by the principles of FPIC is increasingly interpreted as a best practice standard for affected local communities who do not fit the international legal definitions of rights-holding Indigenous peoples. Many land-connected or frontline communities share similar socioeconomic and political characteristics and long-standing customary connections to land. This is especially the case across the African continent, where courts are finding that the right to give or withhold consent exists in many customary law systems. In this way, the principles of FPIC represent a best practice for a just transition and sustainable development, and a crucial project safeguard that can increase the legitimacy of a project in the eyes of all rights holders and reduce the risk of social conflict. For this reason, it is one of the most important legal rights and safeguards for protecting human rights and fighting inequality. Oxfam defines FPIC as the principle that Indigenous peoples and local communities must be adequately informed about projects that affect their lands in a timely manner that is free of coercion and manipulation. As part of this, they should be given the opportunity to approve (or reject) a project prior to the commencement of all activities, using a collective decision making process they themselves select. More and more communities are articulating their own decision-making protocols that should be respected by governments and companies alike. With mining set to expand as part of the sweeping energy transition, it is imperative that future mining only proceed under these conditions. In doing so, mining will contribute to changing the underlying structural factors that contribute to gender and racial inequalities. In pursuing a more just energy transition, grounded in FPIC, mining companies can break free from a history of violence and abuse that has undermined Indigenous communities and companies’ own bottom lines