Climate & Energy

Climate summits, environmental policy, green finance, and the politics of sustainability.

114 stories updated hourly

US DFC Invests in Madagascar Rare Earths

proactiveinvestors.comPublished Jul 22, 2026

The US DFC's $4.84 million investment in Harena Rare Earths' Ampasindava project marks Washington's first direct financial commitment to a deposit that could break China's near-monopoly on heavy rare earths.

US DFC Invests in Madagascar Rare Earths

Climate & Energy

Pentagon's Supply-Chain Ultimatum for Defense

Trump's July 20 executive order compels defense contractors to map critical mineral supply chains and qualify domestic sources by January 1, 2027, when a ban on Chinese-origin magnets takes effect.

Charles PittsPublished Jul 22, 2026

Climate & Energy

Harena's $4.84M DFC Deal Is a Strategic Down

The US DFC's $4.84M commitment to Harena Rare Earths' Madagascar project is a strategic down payment, positioning Washington as an anchor financier for one of the largest ionic clay heavy rare earth deposits outside China.

proactiveinvestors.comPublished Jul 22, 2026

Climate & Energy

IEA Warns Critical Mineral Supply Crisis Deep

IEA's 2026 report finds that export controls and price volatility are deterring private investment, deepening China's refining dominance and threatening $6.5 trillion in downstream production.

Metal Tech NewsPublished Jul 21, 2026

Climate & Energy

G7 Turns Latin American Lithium Into a Geop

The G7's binding 60% rare-earth diversification target by 2030 transforms Latin America's lithium and copper into strategic assets in a contest between China's unconditional capital and the West's conditional market access.

Javier MendozaPublished Jul 21, 2026

Climate & Energy

Forrest Bets A$190M on Tungsten Before US Ban

Andrew Forrest's A$190M stake in EQ Resources is a bet that the US will enforce its January 1, 2027 ban on Chinese tungsten, creating a structural deficit the West cannot fill.

miningdigital.comPublished Jul 21, 2026

Climate & Energy

Critical Mineral Supply Chains More Concentr

Despite $200B in commitments, critical mineral supply chains are more concentrated than in 2020, with China's processing dominance locked in by low prices.

Metal Tech NewsPublished Jul 21, 2026

Climate & Energy

South Korea's Mongolian Mineral Bet Runs Into

South Korea's July 11 trade pact with Mongolia eliminates tariffs on critical minerals, but 90% of exports must cross China or Russia — and Beijing has already weaponized its rare earth monopoly.

koreajoongangdaily.comPublished Jul 20, 2026

Climate & Energy

Seoul's Mongolian Mineral Bet Is a Gamble

South Korea's new trade deal with Mongolia eliminates tariffs on critical minerals, but the real bet is that processed concentrates flown over Chinese territory can bypass the landlock that has trapped every 'third neighbor' strategy before it.

koreajoongangdaily.comPublished Jul 20, 2026

Climate & Energy

IEA Warns Mineral Supply Risks Deepen

IEA's 2026 outlook finds critical mineral supply chains more concentrated than ever, with investment down 9% and $6.5 trillion in downstream production at risk from China's export controls.

Metal Tech NewsPublished Jul 19, 2026

Climate & Energy

China's Rare Earth Strategy Shifts to Co-Opt

China's rare earth strategy shifts from export bans to 'strategic co-option' in Malaysia and Indonesia, embedding technology and state-owned firms inside foreign processing hubs to control supply chains even as rivals build them.

ianslive.inPublished Jul 19, 2026

Climate & Energy

Turkey's 35% Electrification Bet

Turkey's COP31 target to raise global electrification to 35% by 2035 is really a bid to become Europe's clean-power gatekeeper.

japanetwork.orgPublished Jul 18, 2026

Climate & Energy

India's Critical Minerals Midstream Gap

China's rare earth export squeeze exposed India's missing midstream: it mines ore but can't separate it. Policy has built everything except the one thing that matters.

ddindia.co.inPublished Jul 18, 2026

Climate & Energy

Copper supply gap threatens electrification

Soaring copper demand for EVs and renewable energy clashes with declining ore grades and 16-year mine development, creating a bottleneck for global electrification.

mariamater.orgPublished Jul 18, 2026

Climate & Energy

UAE's Chip Windfall Turns War Support Into AI

The US Commerce Department elevated the UAE to Tier 1 export status, removing license requirements for G42 to buy advanced Nvidia chips, rewarding Abu Dhabi's Iran war participation and $500 million Trump crypto investment.

biz.heraldcorp.comPublished Jul 17, 2026

Climate & Energy

Pentagon's $100B Critical Minerals Loan Plan

The Pentagon's $100B critical minerals loan program relies on an aggressive assumption that default rates will be far lower than its own books show.

techtimes.comPublished Jul 17, 2026

Climate & Energy

India's UN Pitch on Critical Minerals

India calls for resource sovereignty at the first UN High-Level Meeting on Critical Energy Transition Minerals, while racing through bilateral deals to build domestic capacity before China's dominance hardens.

economictimes.indiatimes.comPublished Jul 17, 2026

Climate & Energy

India's Refineries Become World's Fuel Swing

India exported 1.4 million bpd of refined products in July 2026, using Jamnagar's high-complexity refineries to become a swing producer amid the Hormuz crisis, but export duties and thin reserves constrain the role.

moonbvc.comPublished Jul 17, 2026

Climate & Energy

India's Critical Mineral Pledge vs China's G

India's critical mineral self-sufficiency target by 2035 is an industry wager that policy and auctions can overcome China's processing monopoly, but execution gaps threaten the forecast.

newkerala.comPublished Jul 17, 2026

Climate & Energy

India-Australia uranium deal unlocks nuclear

Australia and India finalise the administrative arrangement for uranium exports, completing a strategic arch of fuel security, private-sector reform, and Indo-Pacific alignment that enables India's 100 GW nuclear ambition.

ianslive.inPublished Jul 17, 2026

Climate & Energy

First FAST-41 mine clears federal exam

South32's Hermosa project is the first mine to complete FAST-41 federal review, but the real prize is proving expedited permitting can survive the litigation that killed Arizona's last two mega-mines.

chamberbusinessnews.comPublished Jul 17, 2026

Climate & Energy

China's Tariff Wall Became a Factory Door

Western tariffs on Chinese EVs have not blocked them — they have rerouted them, with Chinese firms building factories inside the EU and the Global South pivoting to Chinese EVs amid an oil shock.

Amy RotmanPublished Jul 17, 2026

Climate & Energy

China's EV Battery Tech Lock-In

Western tariff walls force Chinese EV makers to localize production, but Beijing's LFP export controls ensure the highest-value battery technology never leaves home, creating a two-tier global battery order.

mining.com.auPublished Jul 17, 2026

Climate & Energy

BarMar Hydrogen Pipeline Enters FEED Phase

BarMar hydrogen pipeline enters detailed engineering, but its success depends on German industry signing purchase contracts at viable prices.

natrangroupe.comPublished Jul 17, 2026

Climate & Energy

UN Minerals Plea Challenges US and China

UN Secretary-General Guterres pushes voluntary critical minerals rules that challenge both the US FORGE trading bloc and China's refining monopoly, betting producer countries will demand more than raw-export deals.

tribuneindia.comPublished Jul 16, 2026

Climate & Energy

Santa Marta's Parallel Track in Climate

57 countries met in Colombia to plan fossil fuel phaseout outside the UNFCCC, deliberately excluding major petrostates. The Santa Marta process aims to build national roadmaps and a binding treaty by 2027.

corporateknights.comPublished Jul 16, 2026

Climate & Energy

Santa Marta's parallel track: fossil-fuel end

57 countries met in Santa Marta, excluding the US, China, and petrostates, to build a fossil-fuel transition framework outside the UNFCCC consensus model, with a binding treaty possible by 2028.

corporateknights.comPublished Jul 16, 2026

Climate & Energy

Iran War Rewrote the Economics of US Gas

The US-Iran war closed the Strait of Hormuz, creating a $3-to-$20 price arbitrage that drove record US LNG export approvals and locked in a decade of capacity expansion.

briefs.coPublished Jul 16, 2026

Climate & Energy

Iran War Made US the Indispensable Gas Suppli

The Iran war and Hormuz closure structurally pulled forward a decade of U.S. LNG capacity, cementing American gas dominance.

briefs.coPublished Jul 16, 2026

Climate & Energy

DRC Tax Raid Threatens US $9B Congo Minerals

DRC's tax raid on Glencore's Kamoto mine is a leverage play to extract concessions before a US-backed consortium closes its $9 billion acquisition of a 40% stake.

africa.businessinsider.comPublished Jul 16, 2026

Climate & Energy

Alaska's $15M bet against China's mineral str

NSF awards UAF $15M to lead a Critical Mineral Accelerator targeting gallium and germanium, as the U.S. races to break China's near-monopoly on critical minerals.

North of 60 Mining NewsPublished Jul 16, 2026

Climate & Energy

Greece's Vertical Gas Corridor Books 45%

After tariff cuts, Greece's Vertical Gas Corridor becomes fourth-cheapest route into Ukraine, booking 45% capacity through 2030 and displacing Russian gas.

etcdc.orgPublished Jul 10, 2026

Climate & Energy

Canada's Critical Minerals Bet in the AI Arms

Canada bets C$4B on building rare earth midstream refining to break China's 90% chokehold, with success dependent on mastering process chemistry before 2026 trade-truce expiry.

Vlado VivodaPublished Jul 10, 2026

Climate & Energy

Brownfield Mining Wins the Critical Minerals

Brownfield mining — expanding existing operations — is outpacing greenfield projects in the critical minerals race, reshaping US-China-Europe competition over supply security.