The Materials Behind Progress: Critical Raw Materials

Critical Raw Materials (CRMs) are crucial enablers of modern innovation. Comprising elements like lithium, cobalt, rare earths, and graphite, they are indispensable to the technologies driving our future. From electric vehicles and wind turbines to smartphones, semiconductors, and medical imaging devices. As such, CRMs lie at the core of both the global energy transition and the broader digital economy. CRMs are defined by the European Commission as materials that are both economically important and vulnerable to supply disruption. 

Why This Matters

• CRMs are fundamental to clean energy systems and next-generation digital technologies. 

• They are indispensable across strategic industries beyond energy — including healthcare, mobility, and space. 

• Their supply is highly concentrated, creating economic and geopolitical risks. 

• Read more at the Raw Materials Information System (RMIS) EU Commissions website. The RMIS covers the entire value chains of raw materials (mostly metals and minerals from primary and secondary sources) and takes into consideration the materials’ full life cycle. It provides knowledge on raw materials and associated value chains in the context of sustainability, including supply risks and circularity.

Details

CRMs are essential to a low carbon economy, as they are key inputs into technologies that generate and transmit renewable energy. Among the most important are lithium and cobalt, which are critical for the production of rechargeable lithium-ion batteries used in electric vehicles, smartphones, laptops, and energy storage systems. Lithium provides the lightweight, high-energy-density properties needed for efficient battery performance, while cobalt improves battery stability, longevity, and safety. 

Critical raw materials (CRMs), such as lithium, cobalt, and rare earth elements, form the backbone of today’s most transformative technologies. From electric vehicles to smartphones to renewable energy systems, these minerals are essential to the global energy transition and digital infrastructure. However, the race to secure them raises profound questions of equity, governance, and sustainability. 

The surge in demand for critical raw materials is impacting industries across the globe. CRMs are essential for powering electric vehicles, building renewable energy infrastructure, and developing clean technologies in the form of batteries and artificial intelligence. These elements are also deeply embedded in consumer electronics, defense systems, and even medical equipment. The companies driving this transition are headquartered around the world. From tech giants in the US to mining conglomerates in Canada and China.  

The global race to secure access to CRMs is increasingly defined by geopolitical rivalries rather than collective sustainability goals. Major economic powers are aggressively pursuing long-term supply agreements to reduce strategic vulnerabilities, particularly in defense and industrial production. This dynamic place resource-rich but economically weaker nations are at a disadvantage, as they are often pressured into signing resource-for-security or infrastructure-for-access deals that compromise their long-term development potential. 

Across multiple regions, including Ukraine, Chile, and countries throughout Africa, nations with abundant mineral wealth are seeking to break free from the outdated model of simply exporting raw materials. Instead, they are aiming to develop their own processing capabilities, supply chain infrastructure, and manufacturing sectors. In Ukraine, efforts are underway not only to extract materials, but to build capacity in battery and aerospace technologies. In Chile, debates reflect a push to move beyond raw extraction toward value-added industries that protect local communities and ecosystems. The goal is to retain more of the economic value associated with CRMs and to ensure broader benefits such as job creation, skills development, and domestic innovation. 

Businesses that work with critical raw materials have a big impact on whether these resources are used responsibly. While some companies think that strong rules and protections will slow down their work, research shows the opposite. When companies are open, follow the law, and include local communities in decisions, their projects actually move faster and face fewer problems. Being responsible doesn’t just mean avoiding harm, it means making real contributions to the places where companies operate. That includes reducing pollution, creating jobs, and respecting the rights of local people. Companies that cut corners or ignore these responsibilities risk damaging both the environment and their own reputation. 

Action Items: Businesses  

• Understand your impact: Read the critical raw materials factsheets published by the EU Commission's Raw Materials Information System (RMIS).

• Engage with communities: Initiate early and ongoing consultation with local populations, including indigenous groups and vulnerable communities, to ensure inclusive decision-making. 

• Integrate environmental safeguards: Prioritize circular economy strategies through recycling and waste management and mitigate the ecological footprint of mining operations. 

• Pursue long-term, equitable partnerships: Avoid short-term extractive deals in favor of mutually beneficial agreements aligned with national development goals and community wellbeing.