On 22 July 2026, EU Ambassador Stavros Lambrinidis told the UN Security Council that sustainable peace in conflict-torn regions cannot be achieved without responsible natural resource governance, and that the participation of women, Indigenous Peoples, local communities and youth is essential. Speaking at an open debate on natural resource governance, Lambrinidis delivered a statement on behalf of the EU and its member states, with candidate countries and Armenia aligning.
The EU highlighted its legally binding Conflict Minerals Regulation, in force since 2021, which requires companies to responsibly source tin, tantalum, tungsten and gold in line with OECD Due Diligence Guidance, breaking the link between mineral trade and armed conflict. The EU also pointed to its Raw Materials partnerships with producing countries and the Global Gateway-backed Kivu–Kinshasa Green Corridor in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, a project combining conservation, clean hydropower and sustainable value chains to reduce illicit exploitation that fuels armed groups.
On transparency, the EU noted its role as a leading donor to the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI) and its support for the World Bank's Extractives Global Programmatic Support since 2016. Lambrinidis stressed the importance of UN Security Council tools such as Panels of Experts, sanctions regimes and the Kimberley Process, calling for greater coherence. He highlighted recent EU restrictive measures on imports of Sudanese gold, designed to cut revenue sustaining the conflict in Sudan, with targeted exceptions for humanitarian purposes.
The statement underscored that critical raw materials should drive prosperity, not conflict or human rights abuses, and reaffirmed the EU's commitment to supporting producing countries through better application of international frameworks and responsible business conduct.