The green transition promises to reduce Europe’s dangerous dependence on fossil fuels often produced in autocratic states, but it may also create new strategic dependencies. Technologies central to decarbonization - such as batteries, wind turbines, electric vehicles, and solar panels - rely on critical minerals whose mining and processing remain highly concentrated.

At the 2026 Energy Talk, “Critical Minerals and the New Geopolitics of the Green Transition”, organised by the Stockholm Institute of Transition Economics (SITE) in collaboration with the FREE Network, leading researchers and industry representatives examined these tensions from three perspectives: the geopolitical significance of Ukraine’s mineral endowment; the regulatory and distributional challenges of Sweden’s mining sector; and the sustainability and competitiveness pressures facing European firms in critical mineral supply chains.

Key points from the FREE Network policy brief

• Europe risks replacing dependence on fossil fuels with dependence on critical minerals, especially because the mining and processing needed for green technologies are concentrated in a small number of places.
• Ukraine has major mineral potential, but war, outdated geological data, damaged energy infrastructure, and global power competition make it uncertain whether the country can move up the value chain and become a true industrial partner for Europe.
• Sweden and European firms show that the challenge is not only finding minerals, but creating rules, incentives, and supply chains that are economically viable, environmentally credible, and politically acceptable.

Contact:

Jesper Roine, Professor, Stockholm School of Economics; Deputy Director, Stockholm Institute of Transition Economics
Email: jesper.roine@hhs.se

Elena Paltseva, Associate Professor, Stockholm Institute of Transition Economics, SSE
Email: elena.paltseva@hhs.se

Authors: Chloé Le Coq (University Paris-Panthéon-Assas; SITE), Elena Paltseva (SITE, SSE), Jesper Roine (Stockholm School of Economics, SITE)

Photo highligts from the event

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Photo of Elena Paltseva, Associate Professor, SITE. Photo: Dominick Nilsson

Photo of Jesper Roine, Deputy Director, SITE. Photo: Dominick Nilsson

Photo of Jiayi Zhou, Senior Researcher, SIPRI. Photo: Dominick Nilsson

Photo of Maria Sunér, CEO, Swedish Association of Mines, Mineral and Metal Producers. Photo: Dominick Nilsson

Photo of Daniel Spiro, Professor, Uppsala University. Photo: Dominick Nilsson

Photo of Aaron Maltais, Senior Research Fellow, Stockholm Environment Institute. Photo: Dominick Nilsson

From left: Chloé Le Coq, Professor, Paris Panthéon-Assas University and Research Fellow, SITE. Maria Sunér and Aaron Maltais. On screen: Olha Evstigneeva, PhD researcher, Institute for Economics and Forecasting, National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine; Decarbonisation Expert. Photo: Dominick Nilsson

Thank you for contributing to SITE Energy Talk 2026

The event concluded with an engaging panel discussion and audience Q&A. SITE would like to warmly thank all speakers for sharing their expertise and perspectives on critical minerals, strategic dependencies, and the geopolitics of the green transition. We are also grateful to the audience for joining us and contributing to a lively and thoughtful discussion. Special thanks to Jesper Roine, Jiayi Zhou, Olha Evstigneeva, Maria Sunér, Daniel Spiro, Aaron Maltais, and moderator Chloé Le Coq for helping make the event a success.