Stiftung Wissenschaft und Politik
From Competition to a Sustainable Raw Materials Diplomacy
German and European businesses are highly dependent on metals. Demand for these raw materials is expected to grow even further as they will be needed for the green energy and electric mobility transition, digitalisation and other emerging technologies.
Geopolitical developments influence security of supply. China’s central role in mineral supply chains is a major factor of uncertainty in this context.
The European Union has set ambitious sustainability targets. Implementing these in complex multi-tier metal supply chains is no easy matter, given the magnitude of environmental and human rights risks.
Nevertheless, sustainability should not be sacrificed for security of supply. Instead, the European Union should pursue a strategic raw materials policy that reconciles the demands of both.
The two biggest challenges in sustainability governance are: firstly, the diversity of standards and their inconsistent implementation and enforcement; and secondly, power asymmetries and lack of transparency along metal supply chains.
A sustainable raw materials policy must seek to reduce dependency through strategic diversification and partnerships with countries that share European values. Transparency-enhancing measures and a regulatory “smart mix” will be decisive elements.
The study can be accessed here: https://www.swp-berlin.org/publications/products/research_papers/2023RP01_RawMaterialsDiplomacy.pdf
Contributors from our Network
Melanie Müller
German Institute for International and Security Affairs (SWP)
Melanie Müller is a Senior Associate with a focus on Southern Africa at the German Institute for International and Security Affairs (Stiftung Wissenschaft und Politik, SWP) in Berlin and head of the research project „Approaches for Transnational Governance of Sustainable Commodity Supply Chains”. Melanie Müller has conducted research in various countries of the SADC region as well as in Ghana and Niger and published on the political and socioeconomic developments in Southern Africa, as well as on migration and on resource governance. Before joining SWP in 2017, she worked as a research associate and lecturer at Free University of Berlin and as a consultant for public and private actors with a focus on resource governance. She wrote her PhD about the impact of international conferences on local political actors with a focus on the UNFCCC conference in Durban/South Africa.
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Christina Saulich
German Institute for International and Security Affairs (SWP)
Christina Saulich is Associate at the German Institute for International and Security Affais (SWP) in the project Transnational Governance of Sustainable Commodity Supply Chains. She received her M.A. degree in International Relations from Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Free University Berlin and the University of Potsdam and her Ph.D. degree from the University of Koblenz-Landau. Christina’s research centres on industrial and resource policy in Southern Africa, the governance of global value chains (GVCs), sustainability in the platinum supply chain, and political economy in Southern Africa.
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Svenja Schöneich
German Institute for International and Security Affairs (SWP)
Svenja Schöneich is Associate at the German Institute for International and Security Affais (SWP) in the project Transnational Governance of Sustainable Commodity Supply Chains. She received her M.A. degree in Social Cultural Anthropology, Sociology and Latin America Studies from University of Hamburg and was a Ph.D. Fellow at the German Institute of Global and Area Studies (GIGA) and the University of Hamburg. Svenjas research interest lie in the governance of global supply and value chains, resource extraction, sustainability and human rights in Latin America. Currently she focuses on Copper supply chains the Andean region.
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