In association with British Embassy Bueno Aires and British Embassy Santiago.
This Wilton Park event took place from 5 -7 March 2025, bringing together academic, governmental and industry leaders from the UK and Latin America (Argentina, Brazil, Bolivia and Chile) to identify ways to accelerate and promote next-generation lithium-ion battery production and develop more resilient global supply chains.
Critical minerals are essential to the delivery of the global clean energy transition and as such the global demand for critical minerals is rising. The International Energy Agency’s 2024 Critical Minerals Outlook forecasts that global demand for critical minerals will quadruple by 2040 (and for lithium increase ninefold) to meet global net zero targets.
Latin America contains huge deposits of these critical minerals and so the region therefore has a key role to play in driving the global transition to a low-carbon future and addressing the climate crisis. The region is also seeking to maximise the economic and social benefits of the extraction and processing of its resources. It is in our mutual interests to support this, whilst promoting the highest environmental, social and governance (ESG) standards.
A secure supply of critical minerals is also vital for the UK’s economic growth and security, industrial strategy, and clean energy transition. Building on the UK Critical Minerals Intelligence Centre’s updated criticality assessment[1], the UK Government will work hand in hand with industry to publish a new Critical Minerals Strategy this year. This new, targeted Critical Minerals Strategy will help secure UK supply chains for the long term and drive forward the green industries of the future. It will support the industries of tomorrow, be explicitly targeted at UK strengths, articulate the impacts on people’s lives, deliver for businesses and create new jobs across the UK.
The event examined:
- Common principles;
- Collective challenges and how to address them;
- Opportunities for engagement and collaboration between Latin America and the UK.
This report captures a series of recommendations and suggestions put forward by participants to accelerate progress of the lithium-battery value chain and identify possibilities for deeper collaboration between the UK and Latin America.
[1] https://www.ukcmic.org/downloads/reports/ukcmic-2024-criticality-assessment.pdf