Unmined Potential? Opportunities for Development Finance to Support Sustainability and Inclusion in Transition Mineral Supply Chains
Gu, B., Radomski, J., Ray, R., & Sanborn, C. (2025). “Unmined potential? Opportunities for Development Finance Institutions to Support Sustainability and Inclusion in Transition Mineral Supply Chains.” Boston University Global Development Policy Center and Universidad del Pacífico Centro de Estudios Sobre China y Asia-Pacífico. https://www.bu.edu/gdp/files/2025/03/GCI-Transition-Minerals-Report-2025-FIN.pdf
Demand for energy transition minerals (TMs) is set to expand many-fold as global investors and nations embrace the ongoing global energy transition. The task of establishing sustainable and inclusive production methods for these supply chains is an urgent one for source countries – most of which are developing countries located in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC), Africa and Asia, and the Pacific – to continue making progress toward the United Nations 2030 Sustainable Development Goals. In this context, public financial institutions such as public development finance institutions (PDFIs) and export credit agencies (ECAs) are uniquely well-positioned to play crucial roles.
This policy report provides findings following a systematic review of PDFIs’ environmental and social risk management (ESRM) frameworks, interviews with key stakeholders (including major PDFIs with exposure to the transition mineral supply chain), and a workshop held in September 2024 with practitioners and researchers focused on transition mineral ESRM.
