On 26 April 2022 at 16:00 CEST, the International Raw Materials Observatory in collaboration with the American Geosciences Institute (AGI) and the Center for Critical Minerals Strategy will host a high-level transatlantic briefing on critical mineral supply chain vulnerability.

The crisis in Ukraine underscores the inextricable link between national security, economic security, and energy security. Today, Russia is flexing its energy dominance over a dependent Europe. But tomorrow, the danger may come from other countries with control over the raw materials that are key to a clean energy future. 

As two of the largest purchasing regions for EVs and renewable energy, the United States and EU are each examining how to secure ethical, responsible, and reliable supplies of critical mineral materials necessary to power their nascent EV industries and other renewable energy technologies without sacrificing their long-term energy security. 

This briefing will examine steps the United States and EU have taken to strengthen their own supply chains and ways they could work better together to create pathways for like-minded nations to ensure the electric future is sourced using high environmental, social, and governance standards and moves the supply chain towards recognizable global standards. 


Confirmed speakers: 

  • Admiral Dennis Blair, Former US Director of National Intelligence, and Former Commander in Chief, US Pacific Command 
  • Anna-Michelle Asimakopoulou, Vice-Chair of the European Parliament Committee on International Trade 
  • Julijus Grubliauskas, Staff Officer, Climate and Energy Security Division, Emerging Security Challenges Division, NATO HQ 
  • Murray Hitzman, Director, Science Foundation Ireland (SFI) Research Centre in Applied Geoscience (iCRAG) 
  • Luis Tercero Espinoza, Head of Business Unit Raw Materials, Competence Center Sustainability and Infrastructure Systems, Fraunhofer Institute for Systems and Innovation Research ISI