UW Political Science Prof. Aseem Prakash and colleague Prof.Nives Dolšak on the Forbes web site discuss that the slowdown in the global supply chain, due to COVID-19 disruptions, may hamper the switch to cleaner sources of energy.
Coronavirus causing havoc on the world economy has created shortages in the global supply chain, which can ruin global decarbonization. Low resources of sourcing inputs, specifically known as "critical minerals", is the greatest challenge for our society to overcome. The article advocates for a change in climate policy, suggesting a supply chain strategy in this context is necessary to achieve decarbonization by 2040 or 2050.
"China is the leading supplier of “rare earth elements”, which gives it enormous power in the renewable energy market. For some critical minerals, especially cobalt, the world relies on conflict-ridden and politically unstable countries, such as Congo, which again poses a problem for supply chain reliability. The bottom-line is that supply disruptions abroad can derail decarbonization at home."
For the full article please link here.