The European Union needs to transform its coal-mining regions into the source of minerals for clean technology, such as cobalt and rare earths, if it is to meet its climate goals and curb import reliance, a senior official said on Monday.
The European Union has long wrestled with its dependency on imported natural resources.
But the debate has gathered momentum as it seeks to use the coronavirus crisis to spur a green recovery and meet its ambitions to become a net zero economy by 2050.
The Commission, the EU executive, is working on a raw materials strategy to lay out plans for sustainable mining and increase recycling to limit the need for new extraction.
It has also proposed a €40-billion Just Transition Fund that could support new mining projects and retrain some of Europe’s 230 000 coal workers.