Madeleine King aims to promote a green surcharge for Australia’s resources in hopes of making it more competitive.
Australia’s Resource Minister Madeleine King will visit the U.S. and Canada this week to attend conferences and hold talks on critical minerals, supply chains, and decarbonization, according to a press release. King will first attend two conferences on opportunities and challenges for the mining industry in Canada’s largest city, Toronto. Following the conferences, King will meet with her Canadian and, later this week, U.S. counterparts to promote Australia’s mining sector and emphasize the high ESG and safety standards in the industry Down Under in an effort to get them on board a green surcharge for critical minerals. “The prices paid for our minerals need to recognise that Australian workers enjoy the best conditions and the highest safety standards,” King said. The minister has recently expressed that she sees a growing discrepancy in some Western nations between the demands for sustainability and the price people are prepared to pay for the needed critical minerals.
Canada: Centerstage for Critical Minerals this Week
Besides King’s visit, Canada also hosted a Minerals Security Partnership (MSP) meeting in Toronto on Sunday, the Korea Times reports. Led by Jose Fernandez, U.S. Under Secretary for Economic Growth, Energy, and the Environment, the members agreed to boost the policy support for 23 case projects on extracting, refining, and recycling critical minerals. Under the MSP, 13 countries and the European Union joined forces in 2022 to address critical minerals supply chains and connected challenges. During the meeting on Sunday, the members agreed to set up a forum for non-members, providing them an opportunity to engage with the MSP framework, the Korea Herald writes.
Photo: iStock/jasonbennee
