Climate Change, Natural Resources and Geopolitics

The volume is aimed at fostering our understanding of the shifting environment for resource rich countries impacted by radical transformations linked to climate change, technology and geopolitics. On the climate change front, efforts by the international community to achieve net zero emissions have launched an ambitious but uneven energy transition away from fossil fuels leading to both potential losers and winners. Among the potential winners are the resource rich countries endowed with minerals critical for the energy transition. On the technology front, in addition the decarbonization process, digitalization will also raise the demand for critical minerals and (hopefully cleaner) energy in extraordinary ways. On the geopolitical front, the race between superpowers to access critical materials and energy resources to power the technological transformations is not only driving demand for these resources but also potential (geo-)political realignment of resource rich countries vis-à-vis super-powers. The volume also explores ways in which policies can avoid a repeat of past mistakes in the management of natural resources which contributed to the coining of the phrase "resource curse' to describe the paradox that resource dependent countries were performing poorer than others. The new boom in resources should this time serve to promote both an ethical, sustainable and inclusive development.