Brandt School students present capstone report on diversifying German raw material supplies

Over the last four months, a group of MPP students worked under the guidance of Prof. Andreas C. Goldthau on a policy report for the client adelphi, an independent think tank and public policy consultancy on climate, environment, and development, as a part of a required practical training exercise. The report analyses options for diversifying German critical minerals supply chains with a special focus on sustainability and its multiple facets. The project aimed to contextualize the global landscape of the critical minerals market in which Germany operates, developing a framework for identifying sustainable mineral partnerships and recommendations on potential partnership strategies.

The final report was presented to the client in Berlin on January 27^th, 2023, in a meeting facilitated by Dennis Tänzler and Daria Ivleva at adelphi. Following the presentation, the group dived an insightful discussion about specific challenges and opportunities for partnering with developing nations and the role and impact of supranational institutions –such as the EU – when it comes to establishing trade agreements. Ultimately, there was consensus to define sustainability more holistically beyond just climate-smart, to include human rights, labor rights, environmental protection, and regulatory quality.

Beyond the delivery of the policy report that features a cross-section analysis of minerals and its region-based flow of supply chains, the group is also publishing the main insights of the study in a blogpost for adelphi’s blogsite, climate-diplomacy.org.

Authors: Noor Alam, Laisa Pereira and Pia Schrage