The recent political consensus on the European Critical Raw Materials Act (CRMA) marks a significant step towards a common raw materials policy within the European Union (EU). Against the backdrop of increasing geopolitical tensions, the EU aims to bolster its "strategic autonomy" within its raw...

Since net zero targets have become a keystone of climate policy, more thought is being given to actively removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere while continuing to drastically reduce emissions. The ocean plays a major role in regulating the global climate by absorbing a large proportion of...

Climate policy in the European Union (EU) and Germany changed significantly with the adoption of net-zero emissions targets. A key new development is the growing importance of carbon management. The umbrella term includes not only the capture and storage of CO2 (carbon capture and storage, CCS),...

Following the conclusion of the 'Fit for 55' package, European Union (EU) climate policy will enter its next phase. One of the most important decisions will be how to set the economy-wide emissions reduction target for 2040, which will form the starting point for the next round of revisions of...

The promotion of public-private cooperation in resource-rich countries of the Global South can serve as a flanking measure that strengthens the impact of supply chain laws. The case of the South African mining sector in its struggle against Covid-19 shows that close cooperation between...

A succession of disruptions to world trade have put the reorganisation of inter­national supply chains high on the political agenda. The difficulties began with the trade war between the United States and China, deepened with the Covid-19 pan­demic and culminated in the sanctions and export...

The European Union (EU) is seeking out new partnerships and to strengthen existing ones, particularly with Global South states, to enhance its open strategic autonomy. This includes a resilient supply of raw materials for its twin transition to a digital and green economy. Hosting many...

When it comes to being supplied with raw materials, Europe faces a number of chal­lenges. These include the diversification of European supply chains, the implementation of effective sustainability standards, and the reduction of strategic dependencies on China. What will European-Chinese raw...

The European Union’s (EU) Global Health Strategy calls for open and strategic autonomy in the field of pharmaceuticals, which would lead to the redesign of EU global supply and value chains as well as trade relations. As the EU and Germany are seeking to diversify their trade partners, the...

The German government intends to establish standards for responsible sourcing of metals, and laid out its objectives in a position paper in January 2023 ("Paths to sus­tainable and resilient raw material supplies"). German firms source much of the metals they use through traders, exchanges and...