The challenge of ressources scarcity

At a time when our world could be tipping over into an economy of scarcity, resources are more than ever an economic and geopolitical issue. Fossil fuels, rare metals, natural resources – raw materials of agricultural and manufacturing production have always been at the heart of economic and geopolitical power. The high concentration of supply on a global scale makes them the coercive tools of choice, as illustrated by the instrumentalization of gas in the conflict between Russia and Ukraine. The imperatives of environmental transition will shake up the structure of global demand. The shift in demand towards renewable energies is already creating new bottlenecks, as in the case of cobalt and lithium. Rare metals, essential to the manufacture of our smartphones and computers and sadly nicknamed “blood minerals”, are among the other resources whose rarefaction, influenced by the protectionist policies of individual countries, is becoming a national security issue. Finally, the over-exploitation of resources remains a major issue, as evidenced by the rapid deterioration of biodiversity and the drying up of water sources. This scarcity calls into question our consumption patterns and calls for dedicated technological responses to support consumption that is more sober in terms of non-renewable resources. Beyond the problems of market allocation, they have become a major issue of geopolitical interest. Given the scarcity of resources on the global chessboard, how are the pawns moving?