ASEAN urged to adopt ‘friendshoring’ amid rising demand for green minerals

The growing global demand for minerals driven by the transition to renewable energy technologies (RET) is increasing concerns over potential exploitation tied to green development, prompting the Legal Rights and Natural Resources Center (LRC) to propose a framework called “friendshoring.”

Leaders of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and the European Union (EU) earlier emphasized that environmental projects should be treated as key economic strategies amid volatile energy prices linked to conflicts in the Middle East.

According to the International Energy Agency (IEA), mineral demand is projected to increase sixfold by 2050, with more than three billion tons of transition minerals and metals needed for wind, solar, and energy storage technologies to meet the goals of the Paris Agreement.

The Paris Agreement is a legally binding international treaty on climate change aimed at limiting global temperature increases to below 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels, while pursuing efforts to cap the increase at 1.5 degrees Celsius. The Philippines ratified the agreement in 2017.

The IEA said clean energy technologies require large volumes of minerals such as copper, cobalt, nickel, lithium, rare earth elements, chromium, zinc, platinum group metals, and aluminum.

In response, the LRC proposed a “friendshoring” framework encouraging aligned countries to support each other’s clean energy transition while respecting environmental and social boundaries.

In its discussion paper titled From Peripheries to the Core: Leveraging Southeast Asia’s Centrality in Global Transition Minerals Supply Chains through Regional Friendshoring, the LRC said the global race for minerals gives resource-rich countries leverage to negotiate terms favorable to domestic industries and sustainable energy goals.

The Philippines has increasingly positioned itself as a renewable energy hub. Iloilo City was recognized by the Department of Energy as an “Energy Champion” for implementing energy efficiency and conservation initiatives.

In March 2026, German energy firms also expressed interest in the Philippines as a hub for clean technology and industrial efficiency. During the same month, Makati became the country’s first local government unit to transition all city-managed facilities to 100 percent renewable energy through an agreement with ACEN Corp.

On 2 May, Samar also welcomed investors for renewable energy development projects. Meanwhile, the Department of Energy aims to add at least 25 gigawatts of renewable energy capacity by 2035 under its long-term energy plan.

Despite these developments, concerns remain over environmental impacts and local community rights. In Dupax del Norte, tensions emerged after Woggle Mining Corporation, a UK-based subsidiary of Metals Exploration Inc., conducted mineral assessments on a 3,102-hectare site allegedly without the community’s consent. The issue escalated into police barricades and local resistance before the company agreed to withdraw its equipment by 5 July under a memorandum of agreement.

Meanwhile, Meralco Vice President and Head of Utility Economics Lawrence Fernandez also raised concerns before the Senate over the increasing number of unregistered “guerrilla” solar installations in the country.