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Sustainable Resource Management for a Resilient Europe

10. December 2024 @ 17:30 - 18:45

The EU’s Critical Raw Materials Act (CRMA) aims to address the supply gap for critical raw materials (CRMs) that are needed for various (industrial) applications, mainly in the sectors of renewable energy, transport, construction, aerospace and defence. At the same time, the CRMA recognizes the need to ‘moderate’ the expected increase in Union consumption of critical raw materials’ and obliges the EU Commission to present a report on ‘that moderation’ every three years.

However, the CRMA’s measures—primarily focused on economic diplomacy and accelerating mining permits—are unlikely to fully close the projected supply gap. The European Court of Auditors has identified key limitations, including long lead times for mining projects and constrained secondary supply from recycling. Even with expedited permitting, relying solely on mining will not satisfy the demand by 2030 Without risking environmental integrity, human rights, and inclusive governance. In light of these constraints, an Industrial strategy centred only on production expansion is not a sustainable solution.

This roundtable will explore potential solutions by including perspectives from the industry, civil society and the EU institutions on challenges to material access, examining resource demand models for the EU, and current EU-level policy efforts to address the supply-demand gap. More ambitiously, it will confront the often-overlooked potential of demand-side solutions, as highlighted in the latest IRP report, through sufficiency measures. What would a sufficiency plan, that prioritizes CRMs for the ecological transition and curbs excessive consumption and yet strengthens industry resilience, look like? Such a plan can support the interests of industry without contradiction, by embedding efficiency and sufficiency as mutually reinforcing goals—enabling industry to thrive within sustainable resource boundaries.

More of our work on raw materials policy here.