Overview of activities and policy related to critical raw material standards and resource management

There is considerable global interest in how sustainable supplies of raw materials can be secured to underpin the attainment of the net zero agenda and the sustainable development goals. Of particular concern are critical raw materials (CRMs), which play an essential role in low carbon technologies and for which demand is rapidly increasing. Many CRMs are extracted as by-products of major industrial metals from a small number of sources worldwide. Supplies are delivered through complex, dynamic international supply chains, which are vulnerable to disruption from diverse economic, environmental, social and political causes.