EU and international partners agree to expand cooperation on critical raw materials

On 5 April 2024 Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken, accompanied by Under Secretary Fernandez, hosted an event with the European Commission Executive Vice President and Trade Commissioner Valdis Dombrovskis to formally launch the Minerals Security Partnership (MSP) Forum in Leuven, Belgium.  Ministers from MSP partner economies and minerals-producing countries were invited to participate virtually and in person. Additional in-person attendees included Thomas Alweendo, Minister for Mines and Energy of Namibia, Volodymyr Kuzio, Deputy Minister of Economy of Ukraine, Kanat Sharlapaev, Minister of Industry and Construction of Kazakhstan, and Laziz Kudratov, Minister of Investment, Industry, and Trade of Uzbekistan.

MSP partners first announced the creation of the MSP Forum in March on the margins of the Prospectors and Developers Association of Canada (PDAC) Convention in Toronto.  The MSP Forum cements the MSP’s partnership with minerals-producing countries committed to advancing and accelerating individual projects with high environmental, social, and governance (ESG) standards. The MSP Forum provides a platform for MSP partners and Forum members to consider and advance both projects and policies. Together, they will promote diverse and resilient supply chains while supporting local industry and capacity.

The Project component of the MSP Forum, led by the United States, may include project information sharing among MSP partners, Forum members, and the private sector; presentations on critical minerals opportunities, technical collaboration, and more. The Policy Dialogue component of the MSP Forum, led by the EU, may include topics such as policies to boost sustainable production and local capacities; discussions on regulatory cooperation to foster fair competition and transparency; policies to foster the application of high ESG standards; and policies to promote and facilitate effective recycling.

Background

The MSP Forum builds on the EU’s Critical Raw Materials Package adopted in March 2023, which emphasised the need for more diverse and more sustainable CRM supply chains through new, mutually supportive international partnerships, such as the CRM Club. The EU has previously established raw materials partnerships with Canada (2021), Ukraine (2021), Kazakhstan (2022), Namibia (2022), Chile (2023), Argentina (2023), Zambia (2023), the Democratic Republic of Congo (2023) and the Autonomous Territory of Greenland (2023).

CRMs are indispensable for a wide set of technologies needed for EU strategic sectors such as the net-zero industry, digital, space and defence. While the demand for such critical raw materials has never been higher, it is expected to continue to grow driven by the green and digital transitions. For instance, EU demand for lithium used in electric-vehicles batteries and energy storage is expected to increase twelve-fold by 2030. Meanwhile, the supply of CRMs is confronted with rising geopolitical, environmental, and social risks and challenges.

Learn more about the MSP at:

https://www.state.gov/minerals-security-partnership/

https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/fen/ip_24_1807

Photo@ European Commission