Clean energy and associated products are increasingly essential for the security and prosperity of the United States. But if the United States is to decarbonize its own economy and do its part to cut global emissions to net zero, it will have to effect change beyond its borders.
This project brings together a high-level, transpartisan taskforce of past and future U.S. foreign policymakers to explore how the U.S. government can use its financial, trade, regulatory, and diplomatic tools to strengthen clean energy supply chains around the world. Through technical analysis of supply chains for key energy technologies and transition minerals, engagement with active policymakers, and the publication of research and convening of public events, the group aims to develop a roadmap for the future of U.S. foreign policy for clean energy.
The Sustainability, Climate, and Geopolitics Program explores how climate change and the responses to it are changing international politics, global governance, and world security. Our work covers topics from the geopolitical implications of decarbonization and environmental breakdown to the challenge of building out clean energy supply chains, alternative protein options, and other challenges of a warming planet.
A discussion on the future of U.S. clean industrial policy.
Policymakers and industry leaders should look to the grocery store for inspiration in regulating the critical mineral industry.
Chinese companies are dominating the production of technologies essential for a clean energy future. The United States should embrace innovation to preserve its future energy security.
Communities will soon be hammered by climate impacts or hollowed out by declining consumer demand. U.S. policymakers need to make the energy transition equitable.
The tariffs’ full effects on U.S. emissions won’t be clear for years, but what’s certain is that China will respond.
The ongoing African Growth and Opportunity Act reauthorization process could facilitate the expansion of U.S.-Africa trade in critical minerals.
Ambitious U.S. rhetoric and commitment to African infrastructure requires follow-through. By taking a few concrete steps, the United States can make real progress on this worthy goal.
NATO militaries could face shortages of critical minerals, especially if U.S.-China tensions escalate. Stockpiling could prepare NATO for a crisis.
These trends, including the rise of China as an electric vehicle exporter and the recent innovations in battery chemistry, could emerge as drivers of change over the next decade.
With strategic use of its development finance tools, the United States can promote clean energy manufacturing outside of China and help partner countries in the Global South become more than sources of raw materials.
