Introducing the Critical Minerals Policy Tracker
This report is part of Critical Minerals
About this report
As the world transitions towards net zero emissions, the rapid scale-up of clean energy technologies is expected to boost demand for many minerals and metals, including lithium, nickel, cobalt, graphite, copper, aluminium and rare earth elements. To ensure that supplies are secure, reliable, sustainable and responsible enough to support clean energy transitions, governments will need to implement effective policies and regulations to create incentives for companies along the clean energy supply chain. This Critical Minerals Policy Tracker is intended as a tool to help governments explore new critical mineral policies in the three key policy areas of:
- Ensuring supply reliability and resiliency.
- Promoting exploration, production and innovation.
- Encouraging sustainable and responsible practices.
Critical Minerals Policy Tracker
Since its launch in November 2022 covering 25 countries and 200 policies, the Tracker has expanded to include over 35 countries and 450 polices, with the expansion focusing on the third policy area on reducing environmental, social and governance impacts. Though not exhaustive, it aims to offer a valuable overview of evolving mineral supply chain governance. Updated yearly.
Policy Tracker Methodology
We have identified policies, laws and regulations for inclusion in the Tracker through desk research and stakeholder submissions. Research has focused on identifying policies in place within each of the focus countries and regions. For the 2023 update, we circulated a questionnaire among all IEA member countries via the IEA’s Working Party on Critical Minerals (CMWP) to identify potential policies for inclusion. The dataset was further refined following feedback from country delegates and external researchers.