Unpacking Critical Mineral Value Chains and Competitiveness for Sustainable Investment

Increasing demand for critical minerals as input to clean technologies for end use, such as electric vehicles, solar photovoltaic, wind turbines and battery energy storage, could reduce greenhouse gas and other harmful pollutants in the locations where such technologies operate. However, insufficient attention to those pollutants and other environmental, social and governance performance during the mining, processing and productions of those clean technologies, could result in net negative impacts on the planet and locally. This chapter reviews critical mineral supply chains, investors and governance, and a case of Indonesia. It finds that the mining sector has attracted a very small share of sustainable investments globally, and that the mining sector could take more of such opportunities, especially transition financing. Efforts to increase competitiveness in sustainable and efficient use and allocation, rather than simply taking advantage of natural resources, will help diversify investors and trading partners. Private investors and firms, and governments are, albeit slowly, moving into a sustainable path.