G7 countries have some paths to choose in their drive to reduce dependence on rare earths, but they have no time to waste, German Finance Minister Lars Klingbeil said on Monday.
G7 governments are trying to coordinate efforts to reduce their dependence on critical minerals and rare earths from China, which dominates vital supply chains for technologies such as electric vehicles, renewable energy and defense systems.
‘We must not fall into a tone of complaint’, Klingbeil told journalists during a summit of Finance Ministers and Central Bank Presidents from G7 countries, in Paris.
‘Instead, we have to work on our strengths.’
For Klingbeil, G7 countries must improve acquisitions and analyze where production can be expanded. He also proposed recycling quotas, establishing targets or requirements to recover and reuse a portion of essential raw materials such as rare earths.
‘So the proposals are all on the table and we have no time to waste,’ said Klingbeil.
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He argued that the war in Iran exposed the G7 countries’ dependence on fossil fuels, just as the war in Ukraine exposed Germany’s dependence on Russian gas.
‘We have to be very careful not to fall into the next dependency, which, to be honest, we already are in,’ he said.
