Pre-Conference Webinars

Webinar 1: Critical Raw Materials: Why Should We Care?

December 5, 2024, 3-4 pm CET / 9-10 am EST

Featuring Barbara Reck (Yale School of the Environment); organized by Martin Hillenbrand (University of Bayreuth)

The first webinar in the IRTC2025 preparatory webinar series introduces the fundamentals of critical raw material (CRM) assessments and examines the role of CRMs in global resource management. Featuring Barbara Reck from the Yale School of the Environment, this session provides an in-depth look at foundational principles of CRM evaluation, focusing particularly on the original Yale methodology for assessing material criticality. Participants will explore the evolution of criticality research, including its historical development, global CRM supply challenges, and industry strategies to mitigate criticality (e.g., through circularity). Attendees will gain a nuanced understanding of why criticality frameworks were developed and their impact on resource management and industry decision-making. This session will lay the groundwork for further discussions at the upcoming IRTC conference and the other IRTC25 webinars.

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Webinar 2: Critical Materials and the Environmental Transition

January 13, 2025, 15.00 CET / 9.00 EST

Featuring Christoph Helbig (University of Bayreuth) and Jan Kosmol (German Environmental Agency);
organized by Daniele Perossa (Politecnico di Milano) and Malsha Piyumangi (Greener Tech
Consulting and Services)

The second webinar of the IRTC25 preparatory webinar series tackles the role of critical materials in the decarbonization trend and the consequences it bears in terms of environmental impacts. Net Zero Transition is a massive trend, currently shaping industry and society. It originates from the need to reduce the carbon emissions and pollution generated by traditional energy systems, which have been widely proven as unsustainable for the ecosystem and the planet. However, the Net Zero Transition, pivoting around new technologies and paradigms like renewable energy sources and e-mobility, heavily relies on the supply of huge amounts of critical raw materials (CRMs). The processes connected to the extraction and refinement of CRMs are typically involving intensive mining, long transportation, and generation of toxic waste. These elements lead to the paradox that, to achieve decarbonization, we generate new, harmful environmental impacts. With Prof. Christoph Helbig (Professor of Ecological Resource Technology at University of Bayreuth) and Jan Kosmol (Scientific Policy Advisor at German Environmental Agency) this paradox will be discussed, touching on both its consequences and the means we have at disposal to face them and reducing detrimental effects.

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Webinar 3: Can a Minerals Trust for the Green Transition Solve Geopolitical Resource Conflicts?

February 13, 2025, 17.00 CET / 11.00 EST

Featuring Saleem Ali (University of Delaware, UNEP International Resource Panel), with a comment by Harikrishnan Tulsidas (UNECE);

Organized by Tabatha Chavez Matus (ICMM), Yanan Liang (Leiden University), and Saurav Roy (University of Cambridge)

Minerals such as lithium, cobalt, nickel, rare earth elements and copper are essential for the transformation to low-carbon societies. Balancing the priorities of resource-rich nations with consumers of these materials has become a global quandary. Key challenges to effective resource governance include: ensuring reliable supply in a time of economic disruptions and geopolitical tensions; supporting new entrants to the market; reducing price volatility; and ensuring the investment environment is geared to rapid sustainable growth.  This webinar will discuss the idea of a “Global Minerals Trust” to address these challenges by creating an equitable trading platform that can be managed by producing and consuming countries as trustees. Such a mechanism maintains economic sovereignty and ecological efficiency, while allowing for an earth systems governance approach to managing the green transition. The idea was featured by the Rockefeller Foundation in their TED Talk Salon in New York in 2024 and has since received interest from various international constituencies.