LOST in Transition? Rethinking Minerals, Energy and Climate Futures

Author: Ratih Adiputri, Postdoctoral Researcher (PhD)

The LOST Conference at Ulapland

Ratih Adiputri

What is the meaning of critical transitions? Scholars from around the world gathered at the University of Lapland on 15–16 September 2026 to explore this question at the “Critical Transitions: Governing Minerals, Energy Transitions, and Climate Futures” conference. Composed of four panels and four keynote sessions over one-and-a-half days, the conference brought together legal, economic, policy and social science researchers whose work examines critical minerals governance, energy transitions, and climate futures. It was hosted by Faculty of Law’s Law, Technology and Sustainable Transitions (LOST) research group. 

The keynote speakers included Susan Park, Professor of Global Governance in International Relations, University of Sydney; Cecilia Mattea, Regional Lead of Initiative for Responsible Mining Assurance (IRMA); Anne Mutanen, Counsellor of the Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Finland, and Ana Elizabeth Bastida, Associate Professor of Law, University of Dundee. 

Collectively, the keynotes explored the socio-ecological impacts of critical minerals mining, and the interaction between EU policy and voluntary standards. They also explored the relationship between local and global policymaking, Finland’s approach to critical minerals policy, and the role of the United Nations (UN) Task Force on Critical Energy Transition Minerals. The keynotes converged on the need for critical minerals to enable a green transition, but raised critical questions about mineral demand, such as: at what cost and according to whose rules? These questions, alongside questions of responsibility and sustainability, were echoed by panelists throughout the conference. 

Session 2: Photo: Ratih Adiputri

The theme of global governance resonates with my own research on the political language of the UN. Our findings suggest that, while the UN remains present across a wide range of global policy issues, its practical influence is often constrained. Agreements relating to its three pillars of peace and security, human rights and development are frequently shaped by the interest of the permanent members of the Security Council or weakened by their non-binding character (Kronlund et al., 2026). The discussion therefore raised an important question for critical minerals governance: can the UN meaningfully influence the development of global governance for minerals?

Global Ambition, Complex Needs

Thematically following the keynotes, the panels explored critical minerals governance and ethical-socio-environmental contestation, as well as issues of energy security, energy transition, and supply chain resilience.

Session 4. Photo: Sirja-Leena Penttinen

On Day 1, Panels 1 and 2 examined critical mineral governance from the perspectives of both global power and local contestation. Panel 1 focused on how access to critical minerals is being governed and secured through regulations, agreements, and cooperation, demonstrating the growing tension between mineral security, sustainability and legitimacy. Panel 2 brought these governance questions closer to affected communities by examining justice, inequality and whose voices and interests count in the green transition, including cases of the Sokli mine and the Kemin-Sompio reindeer herding cooperative in Finland.

On Day 2, Panels 3 and 4 shifted attention towards the regulation, technologies and longer-term responsibilities associated with the transition. Panel 3 examined the EU Battery Regulation (2023/1542), battery circularity and the environmental implications of accelerating battery production. Panel 4 extended the discussion beyond immediate transition needs to question of resilience and intergenerational responsibility, drawing on research of digital twins, water  infrastructure and nuclear clean energy governance. All panels’ themes illustrate global ambitions with complex needs.

Dinner. Photo: Beata Mäihäniemi

The advantage of a thematically focused conference with a core group of presenters and participants is that it enables deep and sustained engagement. This kind of engagement is difficult to create and sustain at a large conference. Moreover, the themes’ contributions connected directly to the conference’s broader concern with the tensions between security, sustainability and legitimate governance in critical transitions. Plus, learning and engagement amongst the presenters and participants continued outside of the keynotes and panels, during coffee and lunch breaks, at the conference dinner and the visit to the Arktikum Science Center/museum.

Critical minerals, critical questions

To me, the conference’s success lay particularly in its ability to bring together insights from across disciplines boundaries. This diversity of perspectives enriched discussions and highlighted the inherent complexity of critical minerals and energy transitions. Presenters from diverse academic backgrounds encouraged us to consider and broaden issues from different views, often leaving us with questions rather than definitive answers.

Critical minerals, for example, are embedded in such complex social, environmental, economic, and political culture, along with power relations, agency, elites, and the broader social structures that shape how these issues are understood and governed.

I was also particularly interested in how anthropological approaches brought a different perspective to questions of energy elites and nuclear waste, exploring them through storytelling and lived experiences. Stories and everyday practices are, after all, fundamental to human experience. Everyday stories can make complex political and social contexts more relatable and help us recognize similarities, rather than focusing only on differences, between different groups and perspectives. Similarities can foster trust and mutual understanding. It may also help us better understand the perspectives of elites and decision-makers, not necessarily by agreeing with their positions, but by remaining open to listening to and critically engaging with how they perceive the issues at stake.

A broader takeaway from the conference was a shared aspiration that future transitions can become both sustainable and inclusive, contributing to collective well-being. Yet the transition to green energy, despite its ambitions and good intentions, demonstrates that what is labelled “green” is not necessarily environmentally or socially sustainable. The extraction of critical minerals, whether on land, in the deep sea, or potentially even in outer space, remains an inherently extractive activity, irrespective of efforts to make mining more sustainable.

The discussions also revealed gaps and ambiguities in existing regulatory frameworks. In the case of batteries, for instance, responsibility for their second life may remain unclear, even though extending battery use can support the broader principles of a circular economy. Indeed, circular economy was frequently discussed as a part of possible alternatives or complementary approaches. Ultimately, a sustainable transition is not only about changing technologies or sources of energy; it is also about reconsidering how resources, power, responsibility, and the benefits and costs of transition are distributed across societies.

Beyond the substantive discussions, the conference created new connections among the presenters and participants, with many expressing an interest in continuing these exchanges and exploring opportunities for future collaboration. As this was the first event of its kind, it will hopefully provide a foundation for similar conferences and continued interdisciplinary dialogue in the years ahead.

Future Events, and Credits

This is just the first of many events to come. In the spring 2027, LOST will host Professor Holly Buck as a Fulbright Finland Specialist. Prof. Buck’s expansive and highly cited works are world-leading for its examination of popular discourse, urban-rural divides, and the socio-political structures that underpin contemporary energy regimes. Event organized around Prof. Buck’s visit will be centered on the themes of Arctic energy security, building resilient supply chains and cooperative social research.

The present conference was organized by Associate Professor Sirja-Leena Penttinen and Associate Professor Sean Field, with the support of the Research Council of Finland under several ongoing projects focusing on the green energy transition, namely BATRACE — Between a rock and hard place in the battery arms race: towards a global governance framework supporting resilience and sustainability of the battery value chain in the realisation of the green energy transition, decision no. 363808; 2IMATCH — Infrastructure/institutions match for resilient & just green electrification, decision no. 366054; ATLAS — Transformative Law for Sustainability in the Arctic, profi7, decision no. 352881, profi9, decision no. 376380.

References:

Kronlund, A.; T. Häkkinen and R. Adiputri (2026). Political Language of Multilateralism in the United Nations. Routledge.

Regulation (EU) 2023/1542 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 12 July 2023 concerning batteries and waste batteries