The Swedish Government presented this Thursday a new roadmap to strengthen its mining sector with the aim of reducing dependence on China for the supply of raw materials, in an unstable geopolitical scenario in which access to these resources has become a "strategic" issue.
"Sweden and Europe can no longer depend on minerals extracted in countries where Human Rights and the environment are ignored. Sweden has exceptional conditions to extract the necessary minerals for electrification, digitalization, and modernization of defense in an environmentally friendly manner," emphasized the Minister of Finance, Elisabeth Svantesson, in a government statement.
The Minister of Energy and Industry, Ebba Busch, stressed that "access to metals is no longer an economic policy," but a matter linked to national security. "The Government has presented a new mining strategy to strengthen our competitiveness, our defense, and our independence," she argued.
In the same vein, the Minister of Climate and Environment, Romina Pourmokhtari, emphasized that this strategy lays the foundations "for a competitive and fossil fuel-free industry that contributes both to the climate transition and to Sweden's resilience" in this regard.
"The climate transition requires large amounts of metals and minerals. Sweden has good conditions to contribute to a safer and more sustainable supply of raw materials, but a growing mining industry must go hand in hand with high demands regarding respect for the environment, efficiency in resource use, and recycling," she said.
Currently, mining activity in Sweden accounts for about 3.5% of the national GDP and nearly 8% of its total exports. Among the set objectives, the Executive foresees that by 2030 significant steps will have been taken to facilitate the exploitation of another 13 strategic or critical metals and minerals, in addition to those already produced in the country.