The article should not be treated as the authoritative position of the European Commission. The information and opinions set out in the article belong exclusively to the author and do not reflect the authoritative position of the European Commission.
Global change of approach to natural materials
In the first half of the 1920s, we are witnessing a change in perception of the function of natural materials at the level of global institutions and a fresh positioning towards this phenomenon. The UN Secretary-General, who set up a critical minerals group for energy transition on 26 April 2024 (Panel on Critical Energy Transition Minerals1). A report, composed of respective experts from all over the world, chaired by the Director-General for Energy at the European Commission and the Ambassador of South Africa to the UN, prepared a study containing recommendations for action and voluntary guidelines for the exploitation of natural materials.
These included proposals to set up an advisory body, consisting of various stakeholders, to conduct a dialog on a fair distribution of profits and benefits, trade, investment and fiscal policy, and to make a peculiar fund (Global Mining Legacy Fund) which would finance environmental, human rights and the regeneration of mining areas2.
Raw materials cease to be just an economical resource – they become a determining origin in global governance and accountability. The planet is beginning to see their extraction not only through the prism of profits, but besides through sustainable development, human rights and shared concern for the future of the planet.
The work of this group is complemented by another working group on the transformation of the extractive sector for sustainable improvement (UN Secretary-General’s Working Group on Transforming the Extractive Industries for Sustainable Development). The consequence of its work is simply a study of June 2025, indicating policies and actions to enable the UN institutions to implement the guidelines adopted by the first of these groups.3.
G7 and Action Plan for Critical Materials
Since at least 2023, the subject of natural materials has been on the agenda of the G7 Group meetings, bringing together the leaders of France, Japan, Canada, Germany, the USA, large Britain and Italy.4. A joint action plan was adopted at the June 2025 summit in Canada (Critical Minerals Action Plans5), which points to the key function of natural materials in the digital and energy sectors.
This plan is based on 3 pillars. Firstly, by the end of 2025, a roadmap for common minimum criteria (standards) on which the global natural material marketplace will be based is to be established. Secondly, it provides for capital mobilisation for investments and the creation of fresh partnerships. Thirdly, it aims to advance technological innovation, which has already started in September this year at a peculiar expert gathering in Chicago.
Critical natural materials have become a fresh currency of geopolitics – their control means influence, and their deficiency may endanger national security. Therefore, the G7 is presently building the foundations of a global natural material order based on common standards, investments and innovation.
It besides highlights the risks to the economy and supply chains arising from non-market policies and activities in natural materials markets. Importantly, the fight against specified practices has been presented not only as an component of economical protection but besides as a question of national security.
The future of fossil fuels and the function of the global Energy Agency
What will happen to fossil fuels in a planet where renewable energy sources are becoming increasingly important? Will they inactive be needed? It is hard to give a clear answer to this question, although 1 seems certain – their usage should gradually decrease. A further question is so raised as to how energy organisations and the largest energy natural materials producers will respond to this change.
How will the global Energy Agency (MEA) be found in the fresh energy reality in the 1970s to supply access to energy sources? This organisation will surely not disappear, but it can redefine its function by focusing on fresh challenges – especially access to natural materials needed in renewable energy sources. This transformation is straight mentioned by the head of the MEA, Fatih Birol, in his article published in October in Times6.
The first clear signal of change of direction was the 2021 MEA study on the function of minerals in the energy transition – their availability, request for them, supply chains, opportunities to get and the risks associated with this7. This paper launched a fresh chapter in the Agency's activities. In 2022, MEA ministers awarded the organisation a formal mandate to focus on natural materials issues8.
One of the most crucial effects of this decision is the yearly study published since 2023 Global Critical Minerals Outlook, which analyses global investment and price trends and the relation between request and supply in natural materials markets9. Recently, the MEA besides spoke on Chinese export restrictions on uncommon earth metals10, highlighting their impact on the world's energy security.
Energy transformation besides changes the institutions that supervise it – the global Energy Agency from an oil access organisation becomes the guardian of global safety of natural materials in the era of renewable energy sources.
New players: Saudi Arabia and the United States
How do the biggest oil producers find themselves in the global natural materials game? Saudi Arabia is increasingly entering a fresh investment area, which can become another origin of prosperity for the country. A peculiar Manara Minerals Investment Company was established in 2023 to invest in large-scale natural materials projects worldwide and, in the long term, to trade natural materials. The company has already invested US$2.5 billion in Brazil's Vale and talks with Chilean Codelco on possible joint copper projects11.
In global competition for natural materials, Saudi Arabia and the United States redefine their strategies – oil ceases to be the only pillar of power, and investments in metals and minerals become a fresh tool of influence and economical security.
In addition, the Saudi mining company Ma’aden and the Public Investment Fund (PIF) plan to invest around USD 30 billion in abroad natural materials projects and their supply chains in the next decade. In comparison, it is equivalent to the 15 KGHM investments in Chile from 2014. Since 2022 Saudi Arabia has besides organised the Future Minerals Forum – an global high-level conference where fresh investments and key geopolitical issues are announced with representatives of governments from all over the world.
The United States has been active in supporting the natural materials sector for respective years, including through president Joe Biden's initiatives, specified as Inflation simplification Act and the establishment in June 2022 of Minerals safety Partnership (MSP)12 – Partnerships with selected countries at government level13. It shall exchange information on global investment projects and measure possible support for them by MSP associate States.
After Donald Trump took office, a question arose about the continuation of these actions. The answer came rapidly – the administration maintained an active approach. During president Trump's Asian tour, in October 2025, further agreements were signed on safety of supply of critical natural materials.
First, during a visit to Australia, the USA and Australia concluded a cooperation agreement on uncommon earth supplies14, after which the U.S. Export-Import Bank signed letters of intent with 7 Australian companies for USD 2.2 billion in investments. In the following days, agreements were concluded with Malaysia15 and Thailand16. The Asian tour ended with a natural material agreement with Japan, which besides concerns cooperation on the improvement of deep-sea mining, which raises various concerns for environmental reasons17. All of this occurred just before the gathering of Presidents Trump and Xi Jinping, whose background was Chinese export restrictions on these strategical elements and as a consequence China suspended the usage of restrictions for a year.
In early November 2025, president Trump hosted the White home of Central Asian Presidents in the format C5+118, culminating in a joint declaration on enhanced natural materials cooperation, including geological and investment, and declarations or circumstantial US agreements with individual countries19.
In parallel, the United States is expanding its commitment to natural materials projects in Africa (including the Democratic Republic of the Congo) and developing cooperation with Ukraine on natural resources.
Greenland, China and fresh natural materials geopolitics
Raw materials give Greenland fresh geopolitical meaning. This is confirmed by fresh events. On 15 March 2024, a typical of the European Union was opened in the capital of the island, Nuuk, and the ceremony attended by the president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen was a clear signal of increasing interest in the region. In her speech, von der Leyen confirmed the EU's willingness to invest in natural materials projects in Greenland, referring to Raw materials partnerships concluded on 30 November 2023 In the fall of 2024, it was revealed that akin talks were besides held by the United Kingdom20.
Greenland, China, the United States and Europe present connects 1 geopolitical node – who controls access to key minerals, it gains influence on the economy and political decisions of the world.
It is besides not possible to ignore earlier treatments of the American side – at the beginning of Donald Trump's second presidency – about joining Greenland to the United States. Although the natural materials were not mentioned explicitly at the time, political commentators agree that they were the key background for these activities.
China, on the another hand, has been pursuing a thoughtful and long-term natural material policy since the 1980s, which has made it the main maker of most minerals in the world. As a result, Beijing has made a crucial part of global supply chains dependent on itself. At the same time, China has actively shaped the marketplace by introducing various types of export restrictions, including:
- in July 2023 on gal and german,
- in October 2023 on graphite,
- in December 2023 on uncommon land,
- in August 2024 for antimony,
- and in April and October 2025 again on uncommon soils.
Such activities have far-reaching consequences – China controls not only the access to natural materials but besides the technologies for their extraction and processing. due to the fact that it is the Chinese entities that have the most developed know-how, many companies in the planet are technically addicted to them.
China's restrictions21 – both present and in the past – have played a immense function in shaping another countries' natural materials policies. From 2006 to 2008 they had a direct impact on the adoption by the European Union of the first natural material policy (2008).22). Since then, geopolitical and economical conditions have changed considerably, which is further discussed in my article "Great natural material transformation of Europe" published in 2023 in quarterly Mediterranean Thinkletter23.
Europe in a game of natural materials
Until recently, the subject of natural materials was more of the competence of the EU's single Commissioners for manufacture or Energy, specified as Elżbieta Bieńkowska, Maroš Šefčovič or Thierry Breton, but in the last 3 years, this issue has besides started to appear regularly in the speeches of the president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, peculiarly in her yearly message on the state of the Union to the European Parliament. This is peculiarly noteworthy due to the fact that these speeches traditionally set out EU policies for the next year. This is simply a symbolic but very clear signal that natural materials become 1 of the key themes of the European political agenda.
Europe has understood that without its own natural materials strategy, it will not hold its position in the global economy – that is why it enters the game for resources that will decide on its security, competitiveness and sovereignty in the 21st century.
There are also gestures – like the 1 from the 1920s, erstwhile she brought a uncommon earth magnet produced by an Estonian company to the G7 der Leyen summit, recognised in March as implementing an EU strategical project. specified actions are not only symbolic, but besides communicate that Europe wants to build its own technological and industrial competences in the area of natural materials.
The interest of top-level leaders translates into circumstantial organization decisions. Since 2024, there has been a regulation providing for strategical projects, national exploration programmes, recycling plans and partnerships with selected 3rd countries. The proposal of the EU Competitiveness Fund besides includes a section devoted to financing natural materials investments.
The situation is dynamic – the alleged natural material game continues and takes on pace. The fresh Chinese restrictions of 9 October 2025 prompted the Union to take fresh steps towards safety of supply. president von der Leyen, before the European Council on 23 October 2025.24, announced work on the fresh RESourceEU programme – modelled on the REPowerEU plan – to include joint purchases of natural materials, stock creation, investment in strategical projects and closer cooperation with partner countries. The nonsubjective is to avoid dependence on external suppliers, akin to those in the energy sector25.
As the marketplace expands, fresh players include automotive companies specified as General Motors, Stellantis and Volkswagen, which invest in mining companies to guarantee unchangeable and sustainable supplies of natural materials for the production of electrical cars. This includes oil producers, specified as Norwegian Equinor, investing in lithium start-ups in Europe and the USA.
To sum up, there is an intense debate in the global arena on the principles of extraction, trade and financing of natural materials investments. Financial institutions make fresh support instruments, companies search deposits and partners, and countries build mechanisms to aid them. Europe has full entered the global game for natural materials – a game that will decide its economical and strategical position in the coming decades.
1 For: https://www.un.org/en/climatechange/critical-minerals
2 For: https://www.un.org/sites/un2.un.org/files/report sg panel on critical energy transition minerals 11 sept 2024.pdf
3 For: https://unece.org/sites/default/files/2025-08-0UN%20Guidedance%20for%20Action%20on%20CETM%20%28final%29.pdf
4 For: https://g7g20-documents.org/database/document/2025-g7-canada-leaders-leaders-language-g7-critical-minerals-action-plan
5 For: https://g7g20-documents.org/fileadmin/G7G20 documents/2025/G7/Canada/Leaders/1%20Leaders’%20Language/G7%20Critical%20Minerals%20Action%20Plan 17062025.pdf
6 For: https://time.com/7315610/critical-mineral-energy-crisis-fatih-birol/?utm content=buffer3bc04&utm medium=social&utm source=linkedin.com&utm campaign=buffer
7 For: https://www.iea.org/reports/the-role-of-critical-minerals-in-clean-energy-transitions?utm campaign=IEA+newsletters&utm medium=Email&utm source=SendGrid
8 For: https://www.iea.org/news/2022-iea-ministerial-communique?utm campaign=IEA+newsletters&utm medium=Email&utm source=SendGrid
9 For: https://www.iea.org/reports/global-critical-minerals-outlook-2025
10 For: https://www.iea.org/commentaries/with-new-export-controls-on-critical-minerals-supply-concentration-risks-become-reality?utm content=bufferf28bf&utm medium=social&utm source=linkedin.com&utm campaign=buffer
11 For: https://www.swp-berlin.org/publication/saudi-arabia-strives-to-become-major-player-in-mineral-supply-chains
12 For: https://2021-2025.state.gov/minerals-security-partnership/#Framework
13 Members are Australia, Estonia, Finland, France, India, Japan, Canada, South Korea, Germany, Norway, Sweden, USA, United Kingdom, Italy
14 For: https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefings-statements/2025/10/united-states-australia-framework-for-security-of-supply-in-the-mining-and-processing-of-critical-minerals-and-rare-earths/
15 For: https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefings-statements/2025/10/memorandum-of-understanding-between-the-government-of-the-united-states-of-america-and-the-government-of-malaysia-concerning-cooperation-to-diversify-global-critical-minerals-supplly-chains-and-promote/
16 For: https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefings-statements/2025/10/memorandum-of-understanding-between-the-government-of-the-united-states-of-america-and-the-government-of-the-kingdom-of-thailand-concerning-cooperation-to-diversify-global-critical-minerals-supply-cha/
17 For: https://www.reuters.com/world/china/japan-us-consider-rare-earth-mining-near-minamitori-pacific-pm-takaichi-says-2025-11-06/
18 USA, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan
19 For: https://www.state.gov/releases/office-of-the-spokesperson/2025/11/joint-statement-of-intent-on-economic-cooperation/
20 For: https://www.chathamhouse.org/2025/10/racegreenlands-rare-earth-minerals-heating-uk-shockwork-europe-sustainable-strategy
21 Many people frequently confuse uncommon lands with another resources. Therefore, I mention to the comprehensive material developed by the EU project: https://scrreen.eu/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/SCRREEN2 factsheets REE-EUROSTAT.pdf
22 COM(2008) 699
23 For: https://www.kongresociwotelski.pl/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/daniel-cios-great-raw-transformation-europy.pdf
24 For: https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorn/detail/en/SPEECH 25 2470
25 For: https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorn/detail/en/SPEECH 25 2515
