France signed on Wednesday two bilateral agreements with Canada and Australia to “secure” its supply of critical metals, essential for the energy transition and the reduction of its CO2 emissions, announced the French Ministry of Energy Transition.
These two agreements “aim to develop critical mineral sectors, including extraction, processing and recycling projects, and promote cooperation,” the ministry said in a press release.
The signing of these two agreements, on the eve of the first summit of the International Energy Agency (IEA) dedicated to these resources, “is one more step to guarantee our supply of critical minerals”, estimated the Minister of Energy Transition, Agnès Pannier. Runacher, quoted in the press release.
He recalled the launch in May of an investment fund of 2 billion euros to facilitate France’s access to these resources used, in particular, to supply the four gigabattery factories currently being built in the country, or to connect future wind farms. marine.
Strategic framework
Another critical mineral, while France has relaunched the construction of nuclear power plants: uranium.
“Canada’s uranium exports to Europe have increased significantly and we expect them to continue to increase,” Canadian Energy and Natural Resources Minister Jonathan Wilkinson told AFP on Wednesday.
Although Canada is currently the third supplier to the EU, behind Kazakhstan and Niger, exports from this African country hit by a coup d’état may “not be as important in the coming years”, stressed Jonathan Wilkinson, who sees his country continue to progress in Europe’s supplier hierarchy.
The agreements signed on Wednesday “are not commercial agreements that guarantee such a volume of supply contracts for this or that metal,” the French ministry clarified.
“It is about developing these critical mineral sectors in terms of extraction, transformation and recycling, promoting industrial and university cooperation in terms of research and development,” between French companies and these two countries that have the same social and environmental standards, added the same source.
This “strategic framework” covers “all minerals, including uranium”, specified the minister’s cabinet, while, parallel to the IEA summit in Paris, France is organizing another international conference on nuclear energy on Thursday with the OECD.
Source: BFM TV
