Consultants and analysts have warned of looming shortages due to surging demand for key minerals like lithium and cobalt used in electric vehicles, wind turbines and other clean energy technologies.
"We are happy that for a change we can give some good news," IEA Executive Director Fatih Birol told Reuters in an interview. Demand for critical minerals has surged over the past five years, including a tripling in consumption of lithium and a jump of 70% for cobalt, with the total critical mineral market now worth $320 billion, it said.
The newly financed projects will help meet rising demand for critical minerals that the IEA has calculated will be needed to meet climate pledges made by governments, which would likely result in a global temperature rise of 1.7 C by 2100.