IEA Calls for Global Effort to Secure Critical Minerals, Citing 1970s Oil Shock as Precedent

Governments and international agencies are being urged to mount a coordinated response to growing supply risks for critical minerals that underpin batteries, power grids, high-tech components and defense systems, with the International Energy Agency saying the world should take lessons from the 1970s oil crisis.

The IEA has launched a new Critical Minerals Security Program to help nations prepare for and respond to disruptions while working to diversify supply chains, the agency said, arguing that markets alone will not deliver the diversity and resilience needed for energy and economic security. The appeal comes amid a recent scramble over rare earth exports that disrupted manufacturers of electric-vehicle motors and other components.

IEA analysis shows supply and processing of many strategic minerals are highly concentrated in a few countries, raising the prospect that export controls or other restrictions could have cascading effects across manufacturing sectors. For 19 of the 20 most important strategic minerals tracked by the agency — including gallium, graphite and rare earths — China is the leading refiner, with an average market share of about 70 percent, the IEA reported. More than half of those strategic minerals currently face some form of export restriction or controls on processing know-how.

Policymakers and industry executives say that while these minerals are not fuels in the traditional sense, shortages can still halt factories and slow production of electric vehicles, wind turbines, semiconductors and defense equipment. The IEA pointed to a recent example in which tightened export controls on rare earths led automakers in the United States, Europe and elsewhere to struggle to secure magnets for electric motors and other critical components, risking plant shutdowns.

The IEA argues that a mix of short- and long-term measures is needed. Near-term preparedness should include coordinated stockpiling, information sharing and contingency purchasing agreements to limit shocks, while long-term strategies must focus on diversifying sources of ore, refining capacity and downstream manufacturing. The agency said new policy tools and international partnerships are necessary to reduce the structural risks posed by concentrated refining and to unlock investment.

Governments and private firms are already piloting such measures. In July 2025, the U.S. Department of Defense launched a public-private partnership with MP Materials that included equity investment, a price floor and future purchasing commitments to help establish a domestic rare earths supply chain. The European Union has designated 60 strategic projects as eligible for streamlined permitting and enhanced access to financing to accelerate local processing and reduce dependence on single suppliers.

The IEA framed the effort as analogous to the international response to the 1973 oil shock, when governments led by U.S. officials created the agency and established mechanisms for pooling emergency oil stocks. That cooperation, the agency said, helped blunt the economic impact of later oil supply disruptions caused by weather and geopolitical events. It also cited more recent instances where energy supplies were weaponized, including reductions in Russian gas deliveries to Europe during the invasion of Ukraine and Europe’s subsequent pivot to expanded U.S. liquefied natural gas imports.

IEA officials and analysts warned that unlike oil, critical minerals are tied into a broader set of technologies — from grid equipment and batteries to jet engines and AI chips — meaning disruptions could have wide economic and security consequences. The agency noted that market concentration has intensified in recent years, creating higher vulnerability if a major producing or refining country were to impose export restrictions or face supply interruptions.

Industry groups and some governments have pushed for policies to provide greater price or volume certainty to attract private investment in mining and processing capacity. Financial tools, streamlined permitting, public procurement guarantees and coordinated stockpiles were among the options cited by officials and analysts as ways to lower investment barriers and increase resilience.

The IEA’s call for multilateral action comes as countries build renewable electricity systems and electrify transport, steps that will sharply increase demand for copper, lithium, nickel, cobalt, graphite and rare earth elements. The agency and other observers say ensuring uninterrupted access to those materials will be a central component of energy transition planning.

Securing critical minerals will be a complex, multi-year task requiring cooperation among resource-rich countries, refiners, capital providers and end users, the IEA said. The agency suggested its own experience coordinating oil security could serve as a model for pooling data, sharing intelligence on supply disruptions and creating joint responses to acute shocks.

While governments have begun adopting national strategies and investment programs, IEA officials said the scale of the challenge — and the concentration of refining capacity in a handful of countries — makes international coordination essential. The agency urged policymakers to act quickly to develop the institutional frameworks and financial instruments needed to reduce the risk that concentrated supply chains could throttle industries central to energy systems, economic output and national security.

The IEA concluded that with concerted international effort akin to the response to the 1973 oil crisis, countries can shift toward a more resilient and secure supply architecture for the minerals critical to the energy transition and to modern industry.