THE demand for critical minerals is projected to increase from 7.1 million tons (MT) in 2020 to 42.3 MT by 2050. This significant surge is driven by the global commitment to decarbonize emissions in response to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change's warnings about the severe consequences of climate change. Achieving the climate goals outlined in the 2015 Paris Agreement — an international treaty with a legally binding commitment to keep the global temperature rise well below 2 degrees Celsius and to strive for 1.5 C above preindustrial levels — hinges on how effectively countries manage the energy transition. This transition requires political commitment to implement policies that transform energy infrastructures from business as usual to clean, sustainable systems, where clean fuels and renewables play a key role.
However, scaling up clean and renewable technologies requires vast amounts of critical minerals, also known as rare earth elements (REE). These are essential for producing technologies such as wind turbines, battery storage, electric vehicles (EVs), electrolysers, smart grids, telecommunications and semiconductors. These technologies are central to the global transition to clean energy, prompting Southeast Asian nations to secure a long-term, stable supply chain of critical minerals.
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