Rare Earths, Real Impact

The green transition and technological advancements have sharply increased the demand for metals and minerals. Critical metals are essential for advancing renewable energy technologies and electrification efforts as the functioning of electric vehicle batteries, wind turbines, solar panels and fuel cells depend on critical metals. The Nordic region has significant deposits of critical metals such as rare earth elements (REEs), vanadium, and cobalt. Nevertheless, the Nordic countries, including Sweden, Norway, Finland, and Greenland, face significant challenges related to mineral extraction.

Despite having substantial potential for critical metals and minerals, the region's extraction activities are not fully utilized, leading to dependency on external sources for essential raw materials. The dependency also leads to geopolitical risks and supply chain vulnerabilities related to critical Metals. Much of the world's mineral production is controlled by countries outside the EU, such as China and Russia. There is also a spurring development related to the recycling of rare earth minerals. This development implies that the management of critical minerals is developing into a circular model.

PROGRAMME

Welcome and introduction
Johan Jakobsson, Senior Lecturer in Business Administration and
Sarah Franz, Associate Senior Lecturer in Economic Geography, both Handelshögskolan

REE deposits, mining and exploration in global and European perspectives
Erik Jonsson, Senior geologist, SGU (Geological Survey of Sweden) and Smart Exploration Research Center (SERC) Uppsala University

Keeping REEs in the economy and out of the environment: technical and economic challenges
Mats Linder, Circular Economy expert and strategist, Stena Recycling

The future competitiveness of European automotive industry: Building a resilient and competitive value chain from supply of raw materials to Giga factories
Johan Lannering, Head of Strategy & Collaboration, Volvo Car Corporation

Panel discussion with Erik Jonsson, Mats Linder and Johan Lannering
Moderator Sarah Franz