‘We need to move beyond strategy documents and towards implementation, providing clear priorities and supporting industry to deliver.’
The UK government’s Critical Minerals Strategy is too broad and does not convey the urgent need for decisive action if the UK is to compete effectively for resources and meet net zero commitments, according to a new report from the UK House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee.
The report: A rock and a hard place: building critical mineral resilience, adds that the UK’s critical minerals supply chains are vulnerable due to ‘dependence on autocracies – in particular China – and the inaction of successive UK governments.’ According to the report, the UK is lagging behind its allies in response to the challenge.
Calling on the UK government to publish specific targets for priority sectors and to provide a more detailed implementation plan, Chair of the Foreign Affairs Committee, Alicia Kearns MP said: ‘[Critical minerals] are integral to everyday living, the green transition and our nation’s defence. But this reliance has created vulnerability – and in the race for resources the UK is falling behind. China has strategically embedded itself in the middle of the critical minerals supply chain, developing the vast majority of the world’s refining capacity.’
Kearns added: ‘The government must be able to provide UK industry, as well as current and potential trading partners, with a coherent plan to build critical minerals resilience. We need to move beyond strategy documents and towards implementation, providing clear priorities and supporting industry to deliver.’
Earlier this year the UK government announced its Critical Minerals Refresh, which set out a ‘refreshed approach to delivering resilient critical mineral supply chains and demonstrated the government’s sustained commitment to securing the long-term supply of critical minerals for UK industry’/
The ‘refresh’ came with an independent Task & Finish Group on Critical Minerals Resilience for UK Industry, which met earlier this year. Members of the independent group include Johnson Matthey, BASF and the Chemical Industries Association.
Thw second half of this year saw the European Parliament’s Committee on Industry Research and Energy adopt a draft of the Critical Raw Materials Act. The Act highlights the importance of securing strategic partnerships between the EU and third countries on critical raw materials.
Canada has also moved to secure its critical minerals with the launch of the Critical Minerals Infrastructure Fund, announced during the final quarter of 2023. The fund is valued at up to CAN$1.5 billion and is aimed at addressing ‘key infrastructure gaps to enable sustainable critical minerals production to connect resources to markets.’
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