The G7 countries do not yet know how to tackle the difficulty of sourcing critical raw materials in a united way. A common strategy does not exist and cannot be seen. To the summit of ministers of the Niigata economy last week, there was talk of the fight against climate change, but beyond the good and repeated intentions, the content remains opaque. The G7 envisioned only a partnership program to diversify supply chains. Little, very little, given the acceleration with which the business is making headway. "We are determined to urgently address climate change through large-scale action in this critical decade to keep global temperature rise within the 1,5 degree limit," reads the summit's outcome document. But in the final hours of the summit, the France announced a plan 2 billion euros in support of the national extractive industry. The need to contain the arrivals of precious metals, mainly from China, while Europe organizes itself, pushes governments to act autonomously. To date, the EU has formalized two acts: the Critical Raw Material Act (CRMA) and the Net-Zero Industry Act (NZI). From actions defined, among the 27 or in part, nothing has been seen. The French Minister of Industry Roland lescure announced the government initiative by pointing in the InfraVia fund the manager of the 2 billion. In February, the Macron government took a first position and Minister Lescure himself spoke about it in an interview with the EURACTIV agency. The step has now been taken and the fund with private and public capital will help French mining research. The aim is exactly that of rebalancing the import of highly strategic products at home. Another one initiative concerns Italy, where the Swiss mining group Glencore together with the Canadian Li-Cycle is evaluating the creation of a site for the recycling of electric batteries in Portovesme, in Sardinia. The project also includes the production of nickel, cobalt and lithium to be taken from decommissioned electric batteries. The EU had indicated this solution of searches in national territories in its provisions. But it will be difficult to proceed separately in a global context fierce to the tune of billions of euros or dollars, to ensure a less complicated future.
Critical raw materials and the Russo-Ukrainian war
The reduction of imports has become urgent with Russian aggression to Ukraine. Despite many studi in the past warned the United States and the EU of their dependence on essential metals. The first steps for a common line, we said, advance very slowly. Replacing Russian gas with other energy sources has presented European industry, specifically, with urgent solutions. Two years ago, an ISPI study said that essential products for the energy and digital transition were exacerbating "the friction between the United States and China in the technological competition, for which a new, potentially conflicting scenario stands out". Like it or not, therefore, the autonomous decision of France (and perhaps of the project in Sardinia) tends to overcome a worrying delay that could derail the plans for a new economic order. It is not difficult to see in these moves a certain nationalist spirit which he interprets pour cause the Brussels macro-indications on mining exploration. Meanwhile, progress is being made in the USA thanks to the 370 billion dollari of incentives made available by the President Joe Biden The corollary of that money is also the presidential elections of 2024 where the Democrats will play the card of a green America against Donald Trump, which continues to have the support of the oil lobbies. Those who, for nothing in the world, decline the ecological revolution.
The countries of South America are protagonists.
In the meantime, the prices of Chinese lithium (very strategic) are falling due to the lower demand for electric cars whose batteries contain lithium. The geopolitical game on the global demand for important metals has turned the spotlight back on South American countries. It is there that over half of the essential subjects are found. China played early and won, while in South America the players are only now entering the field. Chile is about to nationalize the mines; Mexico is the top producer of silver, useful for wind turbines and solar panels; Brazil is rich in nickel, graphite, manganese for stuffing cell phones, computers, smartphones; Peru has mountains and mountains of copper which are essential for cables and electronic equipment. They are the new players in digital globalization who dialogue directly with world research centres. Western countries are taking care of Ukraine which in some way is already thinking about post-invasion reconstruction. The subject matter necessary to get the country back on its feet, obviously, will be felt in the Kiev area, because the ecological and digital transition will not stop. Other political moves of friction with the New Deal can be glimpsed. According to the Financial Times, the European Union is preparing new sanctions against Russia in particularly for gas and oil pipelines. This will be discussed at the next G7 from 19 to 21 May in Hiroshima, where it is hoped that the new measures will be accompanied by that international partnership agreement tentatively sketched out in Niigata. The agreement would give new credibility to the strong countries of the world in the battle for the climate. For now, a few hours before the start of the summit of heads of state and government, there is only hope.
