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The briefing highlights the critical need for transparent supply chains to mitigate human rights abuses and environmental damage associated with the energy transition. It proposes using digital tools, such as blockchain data architecture, to track both embodied greenhouse gas emissions and broader ESG factors, moving away from anonymous commodity markets toward a system where data follows the goods.

The policy brief examines the intersection of the extractive industries, the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and the Fourth Industrial Revolution. It argues that 'social risk' arises from a failure to achieve 'shared value'—where communities, governments, and companies all benefit from resource endowments. The authors propose the Socio-Economic Technology Initiative (SETI), an open data platform designed to aggregate structured quantitative and unstructured qualitative data to improve development planning and community engagement. Using South Africa as a case study, the document highlights failures in integrated planning and the risk of 'post-mining ghost towns' due to maturing ore bodies and increased mechanisation. It concludes that big-data analytics can reduce transaction costs for collaboration and ensure more equitable socio-economic outcomes.