This article is also available in Italian / Questo articolo è disponibile anche in italiano

The Think Tank section of issue 54 of Renewable Matter offers an in-depth exploration of the world of materials. As always, we have brought together international experts from the fields of research, economics, and politics for our virtual round table. The section begins with an interview featuring Melissa Barbanell of the World Resources Institute, who tackles the challenging subject of critical raw materials essential for the energy transition and their responsible, sustainable management.

Next, Cillian Lohan of the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) takes stock of the circular transition, a critical factor in securing a more secure supply of materials for the future. Finally, British journalist and author Ed Conway guides us on an extraordinary journey through the “matter of the world,” charting global supply chains, environmental impacts, and the geopolitical dynamics tied to the six elements underpinning the modern economy. Here’s a glimpse of the topics we talked about. You can read the full interviews in Renewable Matter #54.

Melissa Barbanell: Global Materials

One year after the COP28 in Dubai, heralded by “transitioning away” from fossil fuels and a commitment to triple global renewable energy capacity, demand for critical raw materials is booming. Lithium, copper, cobalt, and rare earths have become indispensable for the manufacturing of green technologies and decarbonisation solutions, spurring a rapidly expanding market that has ignited a new “gold rush.”

However, this growing demand brings up important issues around responsible sourcing, environmental protection, and the need to ensure an equitable transition for all countries worldwide.  In this scenario, the adoption of new extraction techniques, along with the introduction of global regulations for material traceability and recycling, are fundamental to ensuring resource management that is responsible, sustainable and transparent. Emanuele Bompan asked Melissa Barbanell, US International Engagement Director at the World Resources Institute, to shed light on the subject.

Cillian Lohan: Circular Supply Chains for a Future of Abundance

Nowadays, the circular economy is undeniably in fashion. While the concept of circularity is widely celebrated, with many quick to tout their commitment to it, the reality often falls short of the rhetoric. Recovered, recycled, and reused materials still face significant challenges in integrating into global production processes and supply chains. So much so that the Circularity Gap Report has shown a steady decline in the global circularity rate in recent years, now down to a discouraging 7.2%. Even Europe, despite its status as a global leader in the circular economy, is still falling short of its 2030 targets.

What is required to accelerate the transition and grant circular materials full dignity as raw materials within European and global supply chains? Giorgia Marino asked Cillian Lohan, former Vice-President for Communications at the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) and founder and inaugural chair of the European Circular Economy Stakeholder Platform − the network for all actors and institutions working for the circular transition in Europe.

Ed Conway: A Map of the Material World

The digital revolution, the dematerialisation of work, the web, and social networks may give us the illusion that we have lightened our material footprint on the world. We live and work in constant connection to virtual environments, yet we increasingly lose sight of our link to the tangible world of resources, of minerals extracted from rock, of tools sunk into the ground, of matter. In truth, it is still, and will always be, the physical framework of the material world that supports the immaterial realm in which we, deceiving ourselves, believe we reside. Ed Conway addresses this distortion of perspective in his book Material World: A Substantial Story of Our Past and Future, published by WH Allen and winner of the Italian Galileo Prize.

The British writer and journalist embarks on an extraordinary journey into the material world, tracing the complex process that transforms silica sand into microchips, descending into deep, white salt mines, entering the blast furnaces where rock is smelted to obtain iron, slipping through the copper cables that carry electricity to every corner of the globe, sneaking into oil refineries, and peering over the edge of the eerie salt lakes from which lithium is extracted. Along the way, he maps the intricate web of global supply chains, environmental impacts, and geopolitical interests and questions the resilience of our civilisation, often dangling from the vulnerability of industrial monopolies in the world’s most remote corners. Giorgia Marino sat down for an in-depth conversation with Ed Conway about the challenges we face today and the demands of the future, caught between the material and the immaterial worlds.

DOWLOAD AND READ THE NEW ISSUE OF RENEWABLE MATTER: MATERIALS

Cover: Melissa Barbanell, Cillian Lohan e Ed Conway