Jump to navigation

Vol 64 No 22

Published 2nd November 2023


China, Europe and the US mull tariff war amid scramble for Africa's green minerals

Corporate rivalries and geopolitical tensions disrupt markets for electric vehicles | Special Report by Tim Concannon

Expectations for the UN COP28 Climate summit in Dubai next month are muted because their host is a leading fossil fuel economy and because of rising geopolitical tensions.

This year's United States Inflation Reduction Act by President Joe Biden's administration includes hundreds of billions of dollars of green financing in a law to protect US jobs and companies.

Now European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen plans a similar measure to protect European manufacturers of electric vehicles from what she thinks is susbsidised competition from China. 

Our climate editor, Tim Concannon looks at the implications of these rivalries for African economies which supply many of the critical green minerals. 

For a detailed analysis of these shifts, read our Special Report here: China, Europe and the US mull tariff war amid scramble for Africa's green minerals



Related Articles

Key points from Copenhagen

At the United Nations’ climate change summit in Copenhagen in December 2009, African governments won a victory by stopping attempts by the West to kill off the Kyoto Protocol, agre...


Who will fund the new fund?

With two months until the November deadline set at last year's COP climate change summit for the 'loss and damage' fund compensating victims of climate change to be finalised, dele...