Ms. Ana María Sánchez Infante
Team Leader in the unit Relations with the Member States and the Energy Community, Directorate General for Energy (DG ENER) of the European Commission
5th SESSION
The Geopolitics of Energy and Critical Minerals
Las metas más ambiciosas de reducción de emisiones.
What will we talk about in this session?
Critical minerals have risen to the top of the geopolitical agenda. The global battery “arms race”, fueled by the advent of electric vehicles, has caused a sea change in demand for lithium, nickel, cobalt, graphite, manganese, and rare earths.
The mismatch between supply and demand, especially lithium, has created a tremendous disconnection of raw materials between those who build gigafactories and electric vehicles, and those who extract these fundamental elements for their operation.
Traditional raw materials have taken a backseat to the raw materials of the future. And lithium-ion batteries and their main raw materials have taken center stage in policy, for example in the US Inflation Reduction Act.
But other major economies, such as the European Union, the United Kingdom and Australia, are establishing large-scale financing and associated legislation. The G7 Hiroshima Leaders’ Communiqué mentions critical minerals 10 times; India’s lithium reserves appear on the cover, as does the proposal to nationalize the element in Chile; the EU has just approved the Critical Raw Materials Law; and the US National Security Advisor mentioned the minerals several times in a major policy speech.
SESSION 5 PROGRAM
LANGUAGE: SPANISH – ENGLISH. SIMULTANEOUS INTERPRETATION
-
09:00 - 10:00h Keynote Speech
- Ms. Ana María Sánchez Infante, Team Leader in the Unit for Relations with Member States and the Energy Community.
-
10:00 - 11:00h Panel discussion
- Dr., Dr. H.C. Santiago Cuesta-López, General Manager ICAMCYL Foundation and CEO Iberian Sustainable Mining Cluster.
- Ms. Mar Hidalgo, Senior Analyst at the Spanish Institute for Strategic Studies, Ministry of Defense, Madrid.
- Mr. César Luaces, General Director of Primigea, Spanish Confederation of Industries of Mineral Raw Materials. - Dr. Arnoldus Mateo van den Hurk, Expert in decarbonisation, critical minerals and energy transition. - Ms. Rebeca Vergara, Compliance lawyer, specialised in conflict, critical and transition minerals value chains.
Session moderated by Mr. Jordi Bruno, Director at AMPHOS 21 Group, S.L. -
11:00 - 11:40h Networking coffee break
Meet the speakers
Mr. César Luaces
General Manager at the Spanish Confederation of Mineral Raw Materials Industries (PRIMIGEA)
Ms. Rebeca Vergara
Compliance lawyer, specialised in conflict, critical and transition minerals value chains
Dr, Dr. H.C. Santiago Cuesta-López
General Manager ICAMCYL Foundation and CEO Iberian Sustainable Mining Cluster
Ms. Mar Hidalgo
Senior Analyst, Spanish Institute for Strategic Studies (IEEE), Ministry of Defense
Dr. Arnoldus van den Hurk
Expert in decarbonisation, critical minerals and energy transition
Ms. Cristina Lobillo
Director of the EU Energy Platform and International Relations
Mr. Jordi Bruno
Founder and Director of Amphos 21 Group
