The Climate Change, Energy Policy and Sustainability Research Group brings together colleagues and external speakers to discuss current research and developments in climate, energy and sustainability. This semester’s event series addresses a range of contemporary challenges, including energy insecurity, debates over economic growth and sustainability, international climate negotiations, and the geopolitics of critical mineral supply chains.
Many minerals and materials are critical for the manufacture of different forms of clean energy technology, as well as of information technology and military applications. China has a dominant position in the critical mineral supply chains for energy technologies such as batteries and solar and wind energy. This dominance has been built over many years and spans mineral ores, refined mineral products, intermediate products and final goods. China has been progressively weaponising this dominance by restricting or banning the export of selected materials. This has obliged Western governments, notably the United States, to take steps to reduce their dependence on China for these minerals and products. However, it is far from clear that this dependence can be significantly reduced for at least ten years.
About the event
This event is only for Westminster’s staff and students - no registration is required. It will take place at Regent Street, Room UG 04.
About the speaker
Dr Philip Andrews-Speed
Dr Philip Andrews-Speed is a Senior Research Fellow at the Oxford Institute for Energy Studies. He has more than 40 years’ experience in the field of energy and resources. After a spell carrying out geological research at Columbia and Cambridge Universities, Philip spent three years in Zambia as a mineral exploration geologist. He then moved to BP as an oil exploration geologist where he spent ten years, latterly in China. In 1994, he undertook an LLM in Natural Resources Law and Policy at CEPMLP before joining the academic staff there. He later became director of the Centre and Professor of Energy Policy. In 2012, Philip joined the Energy Studies Institute of the National University of Singapore. Returning to the United Kingdom after ten years, he joined the China Energy Programme of the Oxford Institute for Energy Studies. His research and consulting have been directed principally at the governance and regulation of energy and natural resources in Asia, with a focus on China. The current focus of his research is on China’s role in clean energy supply chains.
