SITE Energy Talk 2026 | Critical minerals and the new geopolitics of the green transition
The low-carbon transition is often framed as a solution to both climate change and energy security. However, as dependence on oil and gas declines, new strategic dependencies are emerging, driven by rapidly growing demand for critical minerals such as lithium, cobalt, nickel, graphite, and rare earth elements. These materials are essential to batteries, electric vehicles, wind turbines, and solar technologies, placing mineral supply chains at the heart to the low-carbon economy.
This shift is reshaping geopolitical and economic relations, as strategic attention moves from oil fields and pipelines to mining sites, contested reserves, and highly concentrated supply networks. It raises pressing questions about energy security, industrial competitiveness, and new forms of vulnerability, while also intensifying the environmental and social trade-offs long associated with resource extraction.
This Energy Talk examines these dynamics through the distinct cases of Ukraine and Sweden, highlighting how differences in resource endowments, institutional settings, and geopolitical positions shape emerging mineral strategies.
Speakers
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Registration
To attend the event, please complete your registration by [clicking here]. Venue details will be shared exclusively with confirmed attendees.
Should you have any questions, feel free to contact us at site@hhs.se.