Global Assessments and Strategies
for Critical and Strategic Raw Materials:
Resource-Rich and Producing Countries Perspectives
Securing the supply of critical and strategic raw materials (CSRMs) has become a priority for economies worldwide as demand grows for clean energy technologies, digital infrastructure, advanced manufacturing, and defence applications. Resource-rich and producing countries are playing an increasingly important role in meeting this demand while pursuing their own economic, industrial, environmental, and social development objectives. Many are seeking to strengthen domestic value creation through processing, refining, manufacturing, skills development, and innovation, thereby capturing a greater share of the benefits associated with global raw material value chains.
Building upon previous initiatives, the International Round Table on Materials Criticality (IRTC) aims to convene experts from major producing and emerging supplier countries to exchange perspectives on the opportunities and challenges associated with CSRM development. The Round Table will explore how countries assess their strategic raw material potential, strengthen their position in global value chains, attract investment, foster downstream industries, and contribute to secure, resilient, and sustainable supply chains. It will furthermore examine how supplier-country perspectives can enrich methodologies for criticality and strategicity assessments, inform policy development, and contribute to a broader and more balanced international dialogue on raw material security, resource governance, and value creation across global supply chains.
While the 2025 IRTC Round Table brought together ten country and jurisdictional perspectives and featured participants from both consuming and producing economies, the discussion was primarily centred on jurisdictions that have developed formal criticality assessment frameworks and policy approaches for managing critical and strategic raw materials. The 2026 edition complements these discussions by placing greater emphasis on resource-rich and producing countries. It aims to bring together around ten perspectives from supplier nations across Asia, Central Asia, Africa, Oceania, and Latin America to discuss opportunities, challenges, and strategies for developing secure, resilient, and sustainable critical raw material supply chains.
Date and Time: Wednesday, November 18, 2026
12-3.30 pm Zürich / 10 pm-1.30 am Canberra / 7-10.30 pm Beijing
The round table will not be recorded. The results of the event and discussions will be summarised in the form of a White Paper and published on the IRTC website.