View: Precious, tricky spots
UNEP) released its Emissions Gap Report 2023. The big headline is that this will be the hottest year ever.
UNEP confirmed the worst fears about rapidly advancing climate change, manifesting in the recent instances of extreme weather that led to devastation in several countries, including Pakistan and India.
According to the report, greenhouse gas emissions set a record in 2022. And, not surprisingly, global average temperatures in September were 1.8° C above pre-industrial levels.
Consequently, there is every likelihood that 2023 could be the warmest year ever.
Indeed, while this is cause for concern, there is a bigger threat that, if unattended, could derail even the best-laid plans to green the global economy. Worryingly, it is also an issue that has not got the desired attention.
Any effort to walk the talk on green commitments and, thereby, mitigate the impact of climate change will require countries to access key green materials such as nickel, lithium and so on.
The good news is that, at present, the problem is not insufficient supply. Instead, it is about obtaining these supplies.
Key minerals required to produce solar panels, wind turbines, electric vehicles and energy storage are in countries classified as either corrupt or politically fragile, making them a very vulnerable link in the supply chain for green minerals.
Complicating matters further is the fact that China has over the last two decades, and more successfully, inserted itself as a key intermediary in this supply chain.
The ongoing decoupling initiated by China and the US could make this supply chain hostage to geopolitics.
The recent face-off over computer chips is a good example. In retaliation to a ban by the US on export of technologies for
