Trade in critical minerals can be a game-changer, as it has the potential to shape the geopolitics of the 21st century, just as oil did in the 20th century.
Critical minerals, including lithium, cobalt, nickel, and rare earths, have become strategic facilitators of the global clean energy transition, enabling technologies such as electric mobility, renewable generation, and mass battery storage.
The quest for these minerals is now a key factor in determining which nations will lead the clean energy transition and achieve economic prosperity.
The history of human development has always been closely associated with the quest for gold, oil and land. It is now developing into a rush for minerals on which the clean energy future of the world will depend.
In the rapidly changing global economy, high-value sectors, especially those anchored on technology, have gained a central role in economic resilience, transformation of industries, and strategic competitiveness.
Author's summary: Critical minerals are key to the global clean energy transition.