Authorities of the Brazilian mineral sector want to use COP30, which will be held in November, in Belém (PA), to present the potential of Brazil in the area of critical and strategic minerals, attracting international investments to the sector.
The movement occurs amid a global race for rare minerals – essential inputs for the production of batteries, semiconductors and cutting -edge technologies. In the context of COP, these minerals gain even more relevance because they are fundamental to the energy transition.
One of the arguments that will be taken to the table by Brazilian authorities, especially in conversations with Western countries, is China’s dominance in this sector.
The International Energy Agency itself (IEA) warns that Chinese monopoly in battery production, which depends directly on strategic minerals, represents geopolitical risks and supply chains.
China has more than 80% of the global battery cell production capacity. More than half of the worldwide processing of lithium and cobalt also occurs in the country.
Reducing Beijing’s protagonism has been one of the priorities of Donald Trump’s new management.
And those who emerge as the main interested in Brazilian minerals, today bought mostly in China, are precisely the Americans. Currently, the Chinese market accounts for about 70% of exports in the mineral sector of Brazil.
Diplomats sent by Trump visited Brazil in April to start negotiations on rare and strategic minerals.
One of the possible obstacles to negotiations, however, is the absence of clear regulation in Brazil on the subject.
Given this, the sector has pressured Congress to approve, before COP30, a national policy of critical and strategic minerals. An example is Bill No. 2780/24, authored by Deputy Zé Silva.
Approval would be an important sign of commitment and would offer greater legal certainty to international investors in the evaluation of representatives of the sector heard by CNN.
In April, Deputy Arnaldo Jardim (Citizenship-SP) was appointed as a rapporteur of the proposal at the Economic Development Commission of the Chamber of Deputies.
Although the sector’s focus is on economic negotiations and implications, COP’s executive director Ana Toni, known for her dedication to environmental agenda, has already stated that mining is “essential” to energy transition.
On Wednesday (28), she attended an event organized by the Brazilian Mining Institute (IBRAM), with the purpose of discussing the theme and gathering influential executives and personalities in the sector.
