A year later, the Spanish government has definitively approved the first action plan for the sustainable management of mineral raw materials for the period 2026-2030, linked to a public investment of 414 million euros. This plan includes, among other things, the first mineral exploration program approved in fifty years, endowed with 182 million euros, whose main objective is to search for critical minerals, such as rare earth elements, both in new deposits and in spoil heaps or existing mines in Spain, as explained by Sara Aagesen, Ecologist in Action, at a press conference this Tuesday.

We want a world without emissions, but to get there we depend on minerals and other elements to make solar panels, wind turbines, and electric vehicles. And this is where the paradox of the energy transition arises: while we seek to reduce dependence on fossil fuels to combat climate change, concentrating and extracting them can lead to environmental and social impacts, such as emissions, deforestation, and water pollution. Added to this is growing geopolitical tension over the control of these resources. Is it more sustainable? Science is looking for answers.

From her office in Antananarivo, Zo Randriamaro coordinates an ecofeminist organization, CRAAD-OI, that fights against extractive projects that threaten ecosystems and communities in Madagascar. The project is a means of attracting foreign companies involved in the project. Global research into critical minerals for the energy and digital transition, and also for a growing arms industry.

Ukraine's rare earths could be the key to unlocking a future peace agreement, following the agreement signed this week by the Donald Trump administration and Volodymyr Zelensky's administration. The United States' hunger for these metals and other critical minerals, such as lithium, cobalt, nickel, and tantalum, is at the heart of its involvement in the war in Ukraine, but also the reason why Donald Trump is threatening to annex Greenland and Canada. But the United States is not the only power immersed in the rush for critical minerals. The European Union has also defined as a strategic priority "achieving a secure and sustainable supply chain" for 34 critical raw materials, which include these and other minerals. essential for green technology and digital, but also, and now more than ever, for the growing military industry.

This Sunday's dossier is dedicated to rare earths. We've talked a lot about this these past few days, because the United States and Ukraine have finally signed an agreement to exploit them. These critical materials are now the new oil, and the global race to control them has begun. Let's review the conflicts around the world caused precisely by these materials, from Africa to Greenland. We'll also explain exactly what materials we're talking about from a geological perspective and what they're used for.

Windmills for wind energy production, electric car batteries, or compact electronic devices like GPS devices. These are examples of technologies that require a critical mineral to function. Although these raw materials have been highly valued for years, the spotlight has recently returned to them.

"I am no longer in Goma since my employment. I am ready to spend some time away from my family and loved ones," explains Steward Muhindo, a Congolese researcher, to ARA. The troops of the M23, the guerrilla group that has been operating in the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo since 2012, They occupied Goma at the end of JanuaryThis is a key moment in their latest campaign against the Congolese government, which has been underway since March 2022 and has allowed them to consolidate their dominance of territories rich in gold, coltan and other natural resources.