Library | ESG issues
Materials Sourcing & Efficiency
Materials Sourcing & Efficiency focuses on reducing raw material use and integrating social, ethical, and environmental considerations into sourcing decisions. By enhancing supply chain transparency and promoting circularity, it mitigates risks and fosters long-term value creation.
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Chokepoints in global supply chains: Lessons from rare earths and hard disk drives
This report examines global supply chain vulnerabilities through the contrasting cases of rare earth elements and hard disk drive production. It distinguishes between persistent structural chokepoints and temporary disruptions, noting that resilience measures, including diversifying processing capacity or maintaining inventories, must align with the specific nature of the risk.
Buildings efficiency: Special report
This IEA report details a pathway to reduce buildings' energy intensity by 25% by 2035. It identifies equipment efficiency, building envelopes, electrification, and clean cooking as primary levers. To succeed, annual investment must triple to USD 1.2 trillion and efficiency progress must more than double from current rates.
Circular economy finance guidelines: Textile sector
These guidelines provide financial institutions with a three-step methodology to classify circular economy activities in the textile sector. The framework distinguishes systemic circularity from linear efficiency, identifying market opportunities worth USD 700 billion by 2030. It supports transaction structuring, target setting, and regulatory reporting through rigorous environmental and social assessments.
Energy Efficiency Progress Tracker
The Energy Efficiency Progress Tracker by the IEA monitors global energy intensity and efficiency trends. It provides data for finance professionals to track energy transition progress, assess sectoral energy use, and evaluate alignment with international sustainability goals.
Green Industry Platform
The Green Industry Platform provides SMEs with technical knowledge and self-assessment tools, such as the I-GO Assistant, to enhance resource efficiency and implement net-zero measures. Managed by the GGKP, it offers sector-specific guidance, research, and circular economy insights for a sustainable industrial transition.
Sand and sustainability: An essential resource for nature and development
This report identifies sand as the world's most consumed solid material, with 50 billion tonnes extracted annually. Valued at USD 569.4 billion in 2024, the market threatens biodiversity and ecosystems. The document provides 24 strategic recommendations to treat sand as a strategic national asset and improve environmental oversight.
Battery circularity: Innovation trends for a future source of critical materials
This report examines global innovation trends in battery circularity and critical metal refining. It highlights a surge in patenting activity since 2017, led by Asian companies. The analysis covers policy drivers, recycling technologies, and the role of secondary supplies in enhancing supply chain resilience and environmental sustainability.
Critical minerals – The power factor in commodities
This report explores critical minerals as a structural theme rather than a cyclical trend. It highlights that bottlenecks in downstream processing and high geographic concentration, particularly in China, create strategic vulnerabilities. For investors, value-chain-based assessments are prioritised over short-term price movements to navigate this lasting global economic transformation.
Rare earth elements: Pathways to secure and diversified supply chains
This International Energy Agency report assesses global rare earth supply chains and vulnerabilities. It highlights China's dominance, the USD 6.5 trillion economic risk from potential disruptions, and provides eight strategic recommendations to achieve secure, diversified, and resilient supply through international coordination, increased investment, and innovation in recycling and demand-side technologies.
India’s critical mineral imports in 2025 and a shift towards supply diversification
This report examines India’s dependence on critical mineral imports for its clean energy transition. It analyses trade dynamics for cobalt, copper, graphite, lithium, and nickel, highlighting a strategic shift towards supply diversification. Significant risks arise from geographical concentration, prompting India to seek resilient partnerships with various global suppliers.
Estimating the date of Earth Overshoot Day 2026
Global Footprint Network identifies Earth Overshoot Day 2026 as 30 July. While the date appears later than in 2025, underlying ecological overshoot is at record levels. The report details nowcasting methodologies using proxy data to overcome UN data lags and highlights significant updates to carbon and trade accounting.
Circular economy practice in India: Three case studies
This report examines India’s transition to a circular economy, highlighting policy frameworks like Extended Producer Responsibility and NITI Aayog’s strategic focus areas. Through case studies of Siemens, Tata Steel, and Volvo Construction Equipment, it demonstrates how circular principles drive resource efficiency, waste reduction, and business value.
Raw power: China locks-in global dominance of critical minerals and metals with $120bn outbound investment surge
This report details China's structural "Going Global" strategy, tracking over US$120 billion in outbound investment since 2023 to secure critical mineral supply chains. It examines China's refining dominance and provides strategic recommendations for Australian policymakers to build domestic value-adding capacity in the zero-emissions economy.
Smarter, leaner, cleaner: Direct reduced iron and the future of American steel
Direct Reduced Iron (DRI) is the most cost-effective new-build investment for the American steel sector. This analysis confirms that natural-gas-based DRI meets investment hurdles across all regions, offering a 15% real return and significant emissions reductions while providing flexibility for future hydrogen integration.
3D geological modelling of the Riddarhyttan Ore Field (Fe-Cu-Au-Co-Mo-REE)
This report details 3D geological modelling of the Riddarhyttan Ore Field, identifying significant iron, copper, and rare earth element mineralisations. Characterising complex deformation patterns, the research suggests orebodies extend below historical mining depths, indicating high potential for future resource extraction within the western Bergslagen region.
EU energy and raw materials mechanism platform
EU Commission platform aggregating demand for critical raw materials to connect buyers, suppliers, and financial institutions across strategic sectors.