Shaken Not Burned

Highlighting changemakers and solutions

Glossary - Critical Minerals

Critical minerals are those elements needed to build technology essential for the energy transition, such as solar panels, electric vehicles, batteries and semiconductors. They include copper, lithium, nickel, cobalt, graphite and rare earth elements. Countries around the world are scrambling to get their hands on critical minerals supplies, but there are some controversies around their extraction. Mining causes significant environmental impacts and numerous related human rights breaches are being reported, as for example in the cobalt-rich Democratic Republic of the Congo. Moreover, these minerals are highly concentrated in certain areas which is driving international trade but also geopolitical tensions. The US and China have been involved in a trade war for a few years, which now includes the highly sought-after minerals as China controls most of the world’s supply.

Busting a myth - There’s no point in cutting emissions in Europe or North America when China and India are increasing theirs.

This argument fails to acknowledge that countries such as the US and the UK are responsible for millions of tons of historical emissions and are still driving demand with their purchasing power.

The Industrial Revolution is widely considered as a key catalyst for anthropogenic climate change, when coal-powered factories and transport started generating significant amounts of emissions. These mostly took place in North America and Europe, and we cannot simply forget about them now that many of these countries are at the forefront of decarbonisation.

Moreover, even if these countries' domestic industry is slightly less polluting, much of their emissions are now outsourced, and still causing emissions increases in the countries where they purchase from, such as China. Many industries have moved production there over the past few decades to cut costs, but those products – clothes, electronics, steel, car parts, furniture – are still being imported on a large scale.

What we’ve been reading this week

• The International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea has released an advisory opinion saying that countries must “take all necessary measures to reduce, prevent and control” anthropogenic emissions. It is the first of other expected advisory opinions from international courts, including the International Court of Justice and the InterAmerican Court of Human Rights. These represent a crucial step forward in ensuring government accountability and climate justice for those affected by warming sea temperatures.

• The Global Critical Minerals Outlook 2024, released by the International Energy Agency, finds that the lower critical minerals prices may discourage investment and cause supply chain crunches, as companies may hold onto their feedstock as they await higher sale prices. Some $800 billion of investment in mining is required between now and 2040 to get on track for a 1.5°C scenario, according to the report.

• In bittersweet news, the Portuguese government will not build a new airport on the Montijo nature reserve, but is still increasing capacity by 50% and 60% at the airports of Lisbon and Porto, respectively. Campaigners say these expansions are not in line with the country’s net zero by 2050 goal.

• In outright terrible news, advocacy group Oil Change International has published its annual Big Oil Reality Check, revealing that all major oil companies are not seriously acting on their environmental pledges. The climate plans of eight giants – BP, Chevron, ConocoPhillips, Eni, Equinor, ExxonMobil, Shell and TotalEnergies – are not compatible with the Paris Agreement.

• Some countries have schemes whereby companies have to pay for their emissions. Last year, carbon pricing raised a record $104 billion, but experts say the prices are too low to drive meaningful change to limit global warming by 1.5°C this century.