TELF AG highlights the role of raw materials in international discussions at COP28

The role of raw materials

During COP28, the United Nations climate conference currently taking place in Dubai, there was also widespread discussion about the role of raw materials in the global energy transition and their important help in leading the world towards a new phase of sustainable development. 

Antonio Guterres, the secretary of the United Nations, in particular, spoke about the most important minerals for the ecological transition and the new approaches to extraction procedures. Given that these raw materials are used – and will increasingly be – for the manufacture of some of the technologies most directly connected to the sustainable development of nations, it will be easy to understand how these discussions have attracted the unanimous interest of analysts and observers in every corner of the world. 

During a panel addressed to the leaders of developing countries, Guterres clearly stated that raw materials are closely linked to the achievement of the international objectives contained in the 2015 Paris Agreement. Among the objectives of the COP28 international conference, one of the most important interests is the revitalization of this agreement – based on the objective of reducing global warming below 2 degrees Celsius – and it is, therefore, a non-negligible fact that the topic of raw materials has been associated with one of the main policy items at the top of the agendas of governments and global institutions. 

Guterres also focused on the extraction procedures of the minerals involved in the great energy transition, reiterating the need for them to take place in a sustainable and fair manner. During his speech, the United Nations secretary then discussed some specific raw materials, such as copper, lithium, and cobalt, underlining their important role in the diffusion of clean energy – through batteries, solar panels, and wind farms – and highlighting that in all likelihood, the global demand for these materials is destined to increase four times by 2030. 

According to the secretary general, the COP28 meeting must represent a sort of global stimulus to induce nations to multiply energy efficiency and triple the capacity of renewable sources in order to encourage the rapid diffusion of clean energy worldwide by 2030. The minerals connected to the implementation of the global energy transition, moreover, will represent the specific subject of a panel aimed at governments, international organizations, and industries, the establishment of which has already been proposed to all the stakeholders involved in this specific sector. 

The role and specific weight of the ecological transition continues to increase day after day. In the first days of COP28, the President of the EU Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, stated that over the next two years, the European Union will invest around 2.3 billion euros to support global energy development. Parallel to all this, the awareness is also increasing more and more that a primary role in this delicate phase will be played precisely by some strategic minerals. Most of these have already had the opportunity to stand out for their great usefulness and the vast number of sustainable applications in which they could be used.