More than security of supply - Why the new raw materials strategy must be a raw materials transition strategy

Podcast # 30

Whether in a mobile phone, electric car or laptop battery, living without metallic raw materials is unthinkable today. In order to ensure the supply of metals to German industry in the future, the Federal Government is therefore currently working on a new raw material strategy. But what role do environmental and human rights issues play in this? What does civil society criticise about the old raw materials strategy of 2020 and what must necessarily be included in the new one? Answers to these and many more questions can be found in our current podcast episode.

This project was funded by the Federal Environment Agency and the Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation, Nuclear Safety and Consumer Protection. Funding is provided by decision of the German Bundestag.

The responsibility for the content of this publication lies with the authors.

Reversal of raw materials

Current podcasts

Podcast: Patents to patients? How trade agreements make access to medicines more difficult

Shelf with medicine packs in a pharmacy, symbol for access to affordable medicines

Patents to patients? How trade agreements make access to medicines more difficult

#78.1

Podcast: Free trade for whom? Why the Global South Criticizes European Trade Agreements

Excerpt of a world map, the African continent is central in the middle. Here's the teaser: Why experts from the Global South are critical of free trade The EU has concluded trade agreements with almost 80 countries. When Commission President Ursula von der Leyen talks about it, these agreements sound like an absolute win-win situation. In their view, both sides benefit equally from lower tariffs, better market access for companies, jobs and lower consumer prices. But is that true? We asked experts from African, Latin American and Asian countries. With Bettina Müller, Trade Policy Officer at PowerShift, journalist Nora Noll looks at perspectives from the Global South – and how they envisage a just trade policy.

Free trade for whom? Why the Global South Criticizes European Trade Agreements

#78

Podcast: Raw materials for the energy transition: How much do we need?

Extraction of raw materials, do we need more and more metals for the energy transition? Compass World Economy shows how Germany can reduce its consumption of raw materials and who bears the costs of mining.

Raw materials for the energy transition: How much do we need?

#77.1

Podcast: Raw materials turnaround instead of raw materials rush – the Raw Materials Week and the Raw Materials Summit

How does an alternative raw material week actually come about? This time, the perspectives of the ‘World Economy Compass’ are changing: Franziska Neumann-Lehmann and Hannah Pilgrim from PowerShift talk about their work on the Alternative Commodities Week and the Commodities Summit – from an organisational and political point of view. How does a common programme emerge from many topics, organisations and perspectives? Who is at the table at the raw materials summit? And what debates do we want to set in a time when raw materials policy is increasingly determined by security of supply and geopolitics? A look behind the scenes – ahead of the Alternative Commodities Week from 28 September to 6 October and the Commodities Summit on 6 October in Berlin.

Raw materials turnaround instead of raw materials rush – the Raw Materials Week and the Raw Materials Summit

#77

Podcast: Nickel for the energy transition: How much does the boom in the Philippines cost?

Aerial view of nickel mining area, blue excavators standing on a gray-brown background. Nickel is a key raw material for batteries and thus also for electromobility. While Indonesia is expanding further processing in its own country, nickel mining is increasingly being shifted to the Philippines, with serious consequences for people and the environment. Michael Reckordt, consultant for raw materials policy at PowerShift, was on the road in the mining regions. He talks to Nora Noll about the consequences on the ground, the responsibility of car manufacturers and why the Supply Chain Act plays an important role.

Nickel for the energy transition: How much does the boom in the Philippines cost?

#76

Podcast: The EU deregulated with a chainsaw

The EU is putting the chainsaw on – how omnibus laws are damaging the climate, the environment and consumers. The EU wants to deregulate - and how. It has put together legislative packages that, in the so-called omnibus procedure, always amend several regulations and directives at once. Officially, this should make everything less bureaucratic. De facto, however, the EU is thus sawing at the foundations of consumer and environmental protection. Bettina Müller, Head of Investment and Trade Policy at PowerShift, took a closer look at the omnibus laws. We're talking about where this deregulation anger comes from and what damage it all does. The picture shows how a person saws the trunk of a birch tree with a chainsaw.

The EU deregulated with a chainsaw

#75

Podcast: A heat plan for the heat transition

A heating plan for the heating transition – how Berlin could heat emission-free in the future. Picture shows a pit, whose walls are stabilized with yellow metal parts and blue rods, in the pit there are two pipes, which seem to have just been laid, and which transport hot water for district heating.

A heat plan for the heat transition

#74

Podcast: ISDS Scorecard: Which European countries are driving forward the group lawsuit system

Coal-fired power plant

ISDS Scorecard: Which European countries are driving forward the group lawsuit system

#73.1

Podcast: How ISDS amplifies global injustice

Investor state dispute settlements amplify global injustice. Compass World Economy explains how and why with Nora Noll. Tunnel with miners.

How ISDS amplifies global injustice

#73

Podcast: Green steel despite the economic crisis? What is needed for transformation now

View into steelworks as a symbol of the necessary transformation of the steel industry

Green steel despite the economic crisis? What is needed for transformation now

#72

Podcast: Greenland and U.S. access to rare earths

Colorful houses in front of Greenlandic landscape

Greenland and U.S. access to rare earths

#71.1

Podcast: Supermagnets from Myanmar: What the need for rare earths means geopolitically and ecologically

The picture shows pagodas in Myanmar in this kind of sunlight. Ten to 30 percent of rare earths are mined in Myanmar, with funding from militant groups and the military junta. Civil war has been raging in the country since 2021.

Supermagnets from Myanmar: What the need for rare earths means geopolitically and ecologically

#71

Your cart is empty.