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28 INTRODUCTION
MATERIALS: CRITICAL FOR THE CLIMATE
The UK UK has shown great leadership on the the the the issue of climate change With the the the the 2008 Climate Change Act the the the the UK UK became the the the the first country to to to to make a a a a a a a a a a legally binding long-term commitment to to to to change the trajectory of national carbon emissions to to to to tackle climate change change with “Carbon budgets” the the Climate Change Commission and the the development of a a a a a a a a a a climate-change action plan20 Significant pledges were made by the the members of the the European Union in Paris At the the time it was noted that the the Paris pledges might slow global warming to between 2 5 and 3oC - still above a a a a level where dangerous tipping points might be exceeded21 Member States committed to reducing emissions by 55% below 1990 levels by 2030 With Brexit and the UK leaving the the the EU there might be changes in in the the the way that these commitments are delivered: it it is unclear how policies previously developed at the EU level will be transposed into UK law The need to to reduce carbon emissions is is incontrovertible carbon budgets are set into UK law and there is a a a duty on the the UK Government to tackle climate change22 The UK is on on track to meet its third carbon-budget target which covers the the period 2018-2022 (the
CCC) however it is not yet on track to meet the fourth carbon-budget target covering the period 2023- 202722 or the fifth covering the period 2028-2032 The UK has passed laws to reduce emissions to zero by 205023 ending its contribution to global warming Reaching
net-zero emissions will require reductions of 15 MtCO2e per year The significant challenge remains: the necessary emissions reductions on on this scale
will require the massive deployment of a wide
spectrum of clean-energy technologies to aid the transition away from fossil fuels Many of these technologies require technology-critical metals as part of the production process The UK is not the only customer for these materials in a a a a a a global marketplace where the world is attempting to transition away from fossil-fuel- based technologies and there will inevitably be tensions that arise in the competition for limited resources Some have suggested the need for a a a a a better framework to facilitate the mineral resources necessary for this transition24 




























































































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