US welcomes Italy to venture into critical raw materials

Mineral Conservation Partnership Expands. India and Norway enter. Its aim is to counter interdependent “weaponization” by authoritarian states such as Russia and China.

The US welcomed Italy, Norway and India to the Minerals Security Partnership, launched by the US administration in June to promote ethical extraction and strengthen partnerships between “friendly” countries in the sector’s supply chains. Weaponization Interdependence of authoritarian countries like Russia and China. The 14 partners are thus “collaborating to strengthen supply chains and guarantee a more sustainable future for all of us,” according to a US State Department memo. These are Australia, Canada, Finland, France, Germany, India, Italy, Japan, Republic of Korea, Norway, Sweden, United Kingdom, United States and the European Union (referred to by the European Commission).

The initiative, the department explains, “continues to expand as demand for critical minerals essential to clean energy and other technologies is expected to grow significantly. Transparent, open, reliable, secure and sustainable supply chains for critical minerals are key to implementing these technologies at the speed and scale needed to effectively combat climate change.” .”

Not a small detail: the note was released a week after the presentation led by the President of the United States Joe BidenIndia-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor, in which India and Italy participate.

Italy’s entry into the initiative, launched in June last year, was delayed by a summer government crisis and subsequent elections. The first meeting was held in February in Cape Town, South Africa, where Italy also attended with the embassy. Emmanuel Polio. A move that the United States “welcomed,” the joint statement said Joe BidenPresident of the United States, and Georgia MeloneyItaly’s Prime Minister, released at the end of their meeting at the White House in late June.

In the same document we also read Washington’s support for Rome’s objective, where the Maloney government appears determined to join the Blue Dot Network steering group rather than renewing the Silk Road Memorandum of Understanding with China. It is a mechanism launched in 2019 to promote high quality in public-private infrastructure investments around the world, including in developing countries. Translated: to counter Chinese expansionism, in this case in infrastructure.

“The fact that European leaders have pulled out of China’s summit on the Belt and Road Initiative and that Italy wants to play a leading role in alternative infrastructure initiatives like the Blue Dot network shows that we are moving away from Beijing’s orbit,” he said. Commented Elaine Degensky, Senior Director and Chairman of the Center for Economic and Fiscal Power at the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies in Washington, a Formiche.net. “Bad actions by China and Russia push democracy together, and could undermine the ambitions of the Belt and Road Initiative more than global shocks like the pandemic. The Blue Dot Network, while a small and focused international effort, could be a pilot and pathway for more strategic and selective multilateral engagement. Other democracies “There are clear benefits to working with countries, and we need to support greater investment in initiatives such as the Blue Dot Network linked to democratic principles, transparency, anti-corruption and human rights. Italy can advance this objective when it assumes the G7 presidency in 2024,” he concluded.