CIRAN to host a session at the World Resources Forum 2025 Conference in September

On the 2nd and 3rd of September 2025, CIRAN will be honoured to take part in the World Resources Forum 2025 Conference, hosted at the Centre International de Conférences of Geneva, Switzerland. The EU-funded project CIRAN will organise a panel discussion around the topic “Minerals extraction vs. nature protection – resolving the dilemma between societal needs and expectations“.


1. GENERAL INFORMATION

All details can be consulted on the World Resources Forum 2025 Conference website: https://wrf2025.org/

  • Date: 3 September 2025, 11:00-12:00h CET
  • Venue: Centre International de Conférences Genève (Rue de Varembé 17, 1202 Genève, Switzerland)
  • Room: TBC
  • Format: Interactive Lab, in-person
  • Target audience: policymakers and authorities active in land-use planning, environmental conservation and mineral resources extraction.

2. CONTEXT OF THE SESSION

The Critical Raw Materials Act (CRMA), which was published in 2024 by the European Commission, aims to address some of the challenges and opportunities that the EU faces in advancing the energy transition and achieving climate-neutrality by 2050. Among other objectives, it establishes a target of 10% of Critical Raw Materials (CRMs) to be extracted within Europe by 2030, and it puts forward measures to expedite the permitting process for extraction projects. It also strives to enhance the monitoring and risk management of supply disruptions, and to uphold high social and environmental standards for the production of CRMs.

The implementation of the CRMA faces multifaceted challenges that fundamentally threaten its capacity to transform Europe’s mineral value chains and secure the EU’s strategic autonomy. Regulatory framework limitations present the most immediate obstacle, as CRMA targets appear unattainable without enforceable compliance mechanisms and a coherent industrial strategy ensuring competitively priced energy and diverse skills development. Administrative capacity constraints compound these difficulties, with understaffed country and regional administrations and skills shortages creating permitting bottlenecks that fuel stakeholder distrust, ultimately reducing opportunities for constructive engagement around mineral projects.

Perhaps most critically, public acceptance of mining projects has emerged as the decisive factor, with the Social Licence to Operate being undermined by the disconnect between EU-level priorities and local community interests and needs —a problem potentially exacerbated by the accelerated permitting processes for Strategic Projects. Investment barriers further constrain progress, as limited EU investor interest is hampered by opaque, concentrated markets and the absence of a premium market for responsibly produced minerals, requiring fundamental changes to competition rules and public sector intervention strategies.

Underlying all these challenges are policy coherence issues, particularly the significant tensions between environmental protection frameworks and mineral resource security objectives, which create conflicting regulatory priorities that undermine public confidence. Overcoming these interconnected difficulties require dramatically increased coordination among Member States and with the private sector, alongside enhanced capacity to manage market disruptions and achieve genuine policy coherence across competing regulatory frameworks.

3. INVOLVED PEOPLE

This engaging discussion is not possible without the engagement of key stakeholders that CIRAN is honoured to introduce:

Moderator:

  • Vitor Correia, International Raw Materials Observatory (INTRAW) & CIRAN project coordinator

Panellists:

Guest Speaker:

If you have any questions, do reach out!

    • Vitor Correia (INTRAW & CIRAN Coordinator): vcorreia@intraw.eu
    • Anita Stein (Communications Specialist): astein@intraw.eu

    CIRAN extends its gratitude to the WRF organisers for offering the project the opportunity to participate and for the close collaboration throughout the WRF25 preparation, and thanks them for their excellent organisation and support. CIRAN looks forward to the WRF25 Conference and warmly welcomes all interested participants to join our session, to collectively advance sustainable practices within the mining sector.

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