Getting Critical Minerals Certification and Due Diligence Right In the DRC-Rwanda Accord and Beyond (With a Lesson from a Punk Band?)

So much is being written these days, understandably, to advise governments and companies on critical minerals and rare earths policy issues, especially as the Trump administration and leaders around the world prioritize minerals access as a key foreign policy and national security goal . Most current analysis focuses on the core challenge of how critical minerals can be extracted in a smooth and efficient manner, on the one hand, and how supply chain certification and due diligence mechanisms can promote responsible practices, on the other. That’s especially the case because so much sourcing occurs in conflict-affected and high-risk countries, such as Ukraine , Central Asia , and beyond.

The Regional Economic and Integration Framework that the Trump administration helped craft between the