Uma análise da regulamentação sobre minerais críticos e estratégicos no Brasil à luz dos preceitos de uma transição energética justa

Abstract

The present study investigates the challenge of regulating critical and strategic minerals in Brazil and its capacity to guarantee the precepts of a Just Energy Transition, in the face of the growing global demand for mineral resources essential for decarbonization technologies. The study was based on the conceptual analysis of the JET (Just Energy Transition) as a multidimensional concept, anchored in the perspectives of Climate Justice, Environmental Justice, and, crucially, Energy Justice. The deductive method was used, through bibliographic and documentary research, to analyze the Brazilian legal framework of the mineral sector in contrast with the regulatory approaches of global powers such as the European Union and the United States. The research identified the crucial distinction between critical minerals (high global supply risk) and strategic minerals (essential for national security), as well as the fact that developed countries prioritize supply security within a logic of geopolitical competition. In contrast, an institutional duality was found in Brazil: the country adopts a combative foreign policy stance, defending the Just Energy Transition, sovereignty, and the principle of Common but Differentiated Responsibilities in international forums, interviews, and diplomatic positions. However, this strong global agenda contrasts with the fragility of the internal legal framework of the mineral sector, which lacks substantial strategic mechanisms for the implementation of distributive, procedural, recognition, restorative, and cosmopolitan justice domestically, limiting itself to procedural instruments. It is concluded that Brazil treats the Just Energy Transition primarily as an imperative for geopolitical negotiation, neglecting the necessary internal regulatory reform to curb localized socio-environmental injustices. The legitimacy of mining for global sustainability depends, intrinsically, on the capacity of the Brazilian State to guarantee social and environmental justice within its territory.