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.
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.
Janet Yellen and Jake Sullivan have recently argued that pursuing industrial policy at home is compatible with an open and fair global economic order.
Given existing reserves, it is possible for the United States and its key democratic partners to significantly friendshore the production of critical minerals. However, it would require an unprecedented buildout of the mining industry to achieve clean energy targets for 2030.
The climate and energy policies of the United States and African countries should build on three shared interests—and address three strategic tensions.
