IEA and India’s Ministry of Mines strengthen co-operation on critical minerals

The IEA and the Government of India’s Ministry of Mines have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) which lays out a co-operation framework on critical minerals, the essential materials that go into today’s clean energy technologies.

The MoU, which defines areas of co-operation ranging from critical minerals data and statistics to the sharing of best practices for modelling and analysis, was exchanged today in the presence of India’s Minister for Coal and Mines Kishan Reddy. It was signed by IEA Executive Director Fatih Birol and Secretary of the Ministry of Mines Shri V.L. Kantha Rao at a workshop on critical minerals recycling organised by the IEA and the Ministry of Mines.

The supply and security of critical minerals remains an important topic for policy makers around the world due to increasing demand, volatile price movements, supply chain bottlenecks and geopolitical uncertainties. The IEA is placing a strong focus on critical minerals analysis, with the Agency set to release a World Energy Outlook special report in November. It addresses the role of critical minerals recycling and business models emerging in areas such as urban mining, the practice of extracting valuable resources from electronic waste and discarded appliances. The latest report follows the IEA’s Global Critical Minerals Outlook report published earlier this year.