GENEVA: Global investments in critical energy transition minerals are not keeping pace with escalating demand. Current production levels are inadequate to meet the needs required to limit global warming to 1.5°C, in line with the Paris Agreement.
UN Trade and Development (UNCTAD) has identified 110 new mining projects worldwide, valued at $39 billion, with $22 billion invested in 60 projects in developing countries.
Yet to achieve the 2030 net-zero emission targets, the industry may need around 80 new copper mines, 70 new lithium and nickel mines each, and 30 new cobalt mines.
The investment needed between 2022 and 2030 ranges from $360 billion to $450 billion, potentially leaving a gap of $180 billion to $270 billion. The most significant shortfalls are in copper and nickel, accounting for 36% and 16% of the total gap, respectively.
As the climate emergency intensifies, demand is surging for minerals that are critical for renewable energy technologies like solar panels, wind turbines and electric vehicle
s (EVs).
UN Trade and Development (UNCTAD) projections based on data from the International Energy Agency indicate that by 2050, for example, lithium demand could rise by over 1,500%, with similar increases for nickel, cobalt and copper.
The booming demand poses significant opportunities and challenges for developing countries rich in critical energy transition minerals, especially those grappling with commodity dependence – when 60% or more of a country’s merchandise export revenue comes from raw materials.
Such dependence hinders economic development and perpetuates inequalities and vulnerabilities across sub-Saharan Africa, South America, the Pacific and the Middle East.
It currently affects 95 developing countries, almost half of the UN’s membership. A total of 29 out of the 32 nations classified as having low human development in 2021 were commodity dependent.
‘Commodities and commodity dependence are issues at the heart of the past and especially the future of trade and development,’ UN Trade and D
evelopment Secretary-General Rebeca Grynspan says.
The new critical mineral mining projects needed offer opportunities for many developing countries, especially in Africa. The continent boasts over a fifth of the world’s reserves for a dozen metals essential to the energy transition, including 19% of those required for electric vehicles.But to fully capitalize on their mineral wealth, developing countries must go beyond merely supplying raw minerals and advance up the value chains.
Source: Emirates News Agency