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The global transition to clean energy has triggered an unprecedented surge in demand for critical minerals, posing significant challenges in achieving international energy transition goals, says GlobalData.

According to the leading data and analytics company, the shift is gaining momentum, heavily relying on renewable technologies such as solar PV cells and wind turbines, alongside energy transition solutions like hydrogen, energy storage, and carbon capture.

GlobalData’s latest Strategic Intelligence report, Critical Minerals (2024), identifies several main challenges to scaling clean energy technologies, including mineral depletion, resource monopolisation, geopolitical tensions, and water scarcity.

“The near-term depletion of critical minerals raises concerns, especially as instability in the green technologies market causes price volatility,” said Martina Raveni, Strategic Intelligence Analyst at GlobalData.

Many critical minerals are concentrated in specific regions, creating uneven resource distribution and volatile market dynamics. For example, much of the world’s lithium reserves are concentrated in South America and Australia, while the Democratic Republic of the Congo provides much of the world’s cobalt, and Indonesia dominates nickel production.