The European Union is making moves to accelerate their energy independence amid the global push for net zero emissions.

A new bill called the Critical Raw Materials Agreement just passed in Parliament, sending a clear signal that the EU is making it a priority to be less reliant on China and other countries to provide critical minerals and materials.

What’s happening:

• The new proposal insists that Europe immediately begins increasing their own production of raw materials such as lithium, copper, nickel, cobalt and more
• By 2030, Europe wants to be producing at least 10% of their own demand for these materials
• They also want to make major strides in being able to handle recycling battery materials, aiming to be able to process 45% of all waste from electronic waste such as lithium batteries

Why it matters:

• Europe currently relies heavily on other countries such as China for their raw materials and has not been investing as heavily in the energy transition as countries such as the United States
• This new bill will likely open the floodgates of government funding for startups and energy transition projects, although exact specifics still need to be negotiated
• Another focus of the bill is to accelerate research and innovation within Europe, which likely will bode well for any startups focused on climate tech or the energy transition

The fine print:

• The exact specifics of the bill likely won’t be finalized until the end of the year
• Another focal point of the bill is to reduce red tape and restrictive regulations that mining startups are currently facing in the EU, although specifics of what that entails have yet to be publicly disclosed

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