Scientific article
Published:
Critical Raw Materials: Interests of China and the European Union in the Arctic
Written by
Andreas Raspotnik
Senior Researcher, FNI
Erdem Lamazhapov
PhD Research Fellow, FNI
Iselin Stensdal
Senior Researcher, FNI
Gørild Merethe Heggelund
Research Professor, FNI
Ed.
Summary:
In this Essay, we examine a potential avenue of future contestation in the Arctic – namely, the development of critical raw materials (CRMs) – with a particular focus on two actors with a growing interest in exploiting those materials in the Arctic region: China and the European Union (EU). CRMs increasingly play an essential role in the geopolitics of the global energy transition. In comes the Arctic region – a broad geographic area encompassing eight States that is rich in critical minerals, such as lithium, cobalt, nickel and REEs. However, mining in the Arctic poses significant risks, particularly to the region’s fragile ecosystem, and would require significant investments, often also involving public-private partnerships. And yet, as demand for critical minerals grows, the Arctic’s role in the global supply chain will likely become more prominent, particularly from a Chinese and EU perspective. The Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 marked a watershed in relations between the West and the Russian Federation, including in the Arctic region. Once hailed as an exceptional space of regional governance, cooperation and peaceful co-existence between the Arctic States, that notion lost meaning over the past two – almost three – years.
- Full version: Read here
- Publisher: Taylor & Francis
- Language: English
- Journal: Strategic Analysis