Highlights
- India and Japan consider collaboration in rare earth elements (REE) to meet sustainability goals and critical mineral demand by 2040-2070.
- The partnership could leverage India’s untapped reserves and Japan’s technological capabilities to address supply chain challenges and reduce dependence on China.
- Cooperation aims to foster self-reliance, attain energy transition goals, and enhance overall supply chain resilience in the REE sector.
An author affiliated with the Society of Indian Defense Manufacturers, Confederation of Indian Industry, (opens in a new tab) in New Delhi, India and a member of the Global Rare Earth Industry Association (opens in a new tab) (REIA) based in Brussels, Belgium ponder collaboration between India and Japan in the race for rare earth element (REE) resiliency in the context of aggressive green sustainability aims. All premised on the so-called “zero-carbon scenario” critical demand from sectors such as energy and defense for critical minerals could explode by a factor of six by the year 2040 report the authors. Driving this trend, the mission of net zero greenhouse gas emissions, Japan and India respectively seek to accomplish this aim by 2050 and 2070. But how, this seems a challenging goal? Especially hard given the lack of sufficient critical REE supply chain. There is likely no way the two countries can achieve their net zero greenhouse emission goals by the targeted data given the intense demand for clean energy technologies like electric vehicles, solar and wind energy, battery storage, power transmission, and green hydrogen without some strategic moves, relentless execution, and some fortune. Can these two nations come together to achieve their environmental, industry and defense-related goals?
Enter this fascinating topic and why Rare Earth Exchanges was launched this month to probe this unfolding dynamic.
Many nations now embark on resilience measures to overcome their respective supply chain bottlenecks for critical minerals. These efforts, including to the authors of this latest paper published in SpringerLink’s journal India Japan and Beyond (opens in a new tab) involve “cross-country collaborations and global partnerships.”
Indian and Japanese Potential
Neha Mishra (opens in a new tab) and Nabeel Mancheri (opens in a new tab) suggest in their recent entry that India and Japan can make a powerful pair in the world of REE and resilient supply chain.
“India's untapped reserves and rising production potential, in conjunction with Japan's financial, technological, and market capacity, are increasingly serving as examples of the development of such resilient partnerships.”
But challenges are involved for the pair, with Japan as the world’s third largest economy and India at number five as measured in gross domestic product, both Asian nations face challenging yet corresponding hurdles. For example, Japan has virtually no domestic reserves.
Yet India faces great challenges to capitalize on its large, rare earth metal reserves because of a lack of proper investment for research and development and a lack of technological innovation in this sphere. However, Rare Earth Exchanges notes that India becomes increasingly wealthy, possesses substantial technology capability and talent, and remains nationally directed to grow, prosper, and emerge as a true independent national superpower.
Vulnerable Alone, Strong Together?
The authors in this latest article propose the two combined their efforts capitalizing on the “strength of India's reserve” while tapping into Japan's technology capacity, capable of powering not only human security, environmental sustainability, and economic growth, but also technical innovation, and overall supply chain resilience.
The authors in this entry in a book chapter study the prospects between both Japan and India for REE resilience. The authors investigate the prospects for India-Japan cooperation in the following areas:
- Diminishing reliance on Chinese imports
- Fostering self-reliance
- Attaining energy transition goals
- Working towards resilience
From the role of rare metals in technological innovation, environmental sustainability, and resilience initiatives, the authors clarify India's significant rare earth potential in relation to its reserves, production, and policies.
Followed by Japan's significant capacity for recycling rare earth elements, despite its lack of reserves.
Finally, the pair investigate the viability of the India-Japan partnership in rare metal collaboration, aimed at enhancing resilience plus lowering dependence on China. From a U.S. point of view how could America and even European nations tap into and enhance such an endeavor?
Daniel
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