IEA Ministers Acknowledge Goals Set by the Voluntary Programme on Critical Minerals Security

31 IEA member ministers recognized the central role of critical minerals and their value chains in global transitions towards clean energy.

Energy leaders from around the world gathered in Paris this week for the 2024 Ministerial Meeting and the 50th Anniversary of the International Energy Agency (IEA). At the Paris meeting, ministers from the 31 IEA member countries established a series of mandates in a joint statement that will guide the Agency's mission in the future.

The joint statement referred to the framework for advancing the goals set for an IEA Voluntary Programme on Critical Minerals Security, which would seek to enhance the security of supply chains for crucial minerals needed for clean energy technologies.

Supply chains for technology and critical minerals

 In the joint statement issued by the ministers and delivered to the IEA, they referred to the importance of renewable energy technologies and other clean energy technologies for achieving safe energy transitions. 

In this regard, they recognized the "central role of critical minerals and their value chains in global transitions towards clean energies leading to net-zero emissions by 2050."

Likewise, in a statement, they indicated that: "We welcome the goals proposed by the IEA Voluntary Programme on Critical Minerals Security. We instruct the Secretariat to develop a framework with practical tools to achieve these goals."

"We urge the Secretariat to report periodically to the Board of Governors, at an official level, on the progress of the elements of the Programme, including IEA country reviews of critical minerals and efforts to support better data collection and collaborative approaches to security mechanisms, including voluntary storage, and diversified processing and refining capacities to increase security from diversified sources," the ministers added.

Finally, they indicated that "we support efforts to increase cooperation in other forums, across all these elements. We emphasize the key role of recycling and technological innovation aspects related to the critical minerals sector."