With U.S.-South Africa ties in the deep freeze, it was notable to see the sheer size of the U.S. delegation sent to this week’s Mining Indaba in Cape Town – one of the most prominent industry gatherings and one of the few where the Global South gets a prominent voice.
The Trump administration’s famous Afrophobia seems (momentarily at least) tempered by its greed for minerals. It is reportedly walking ...
Category: Environment
China’s Push for Low-Carbon Metals Is Forcing a Reckoning in Indonesia’s Nickel Boom
By Muyi Yang and Dody Setiawan At the G20 Summit in late 2025, China unveiled the International Economic and Trade Cooperation Initiative on Green Mining and Minerals. While broader geopolitical headlines overshadowed this news, it carries crucial implications.
Sri Lanka Seeks Chinese Aid to Rebuild After Deadly Cyclone
Sri Lanka asked China to help rebuild key infrastructure damaged by Cyclone Ditwah, which killed at least 641 people and caused extensive damage, the island's foreign minister said on Monday. Vijitha Herath said he made the request during talks with his ...
Japan to Test Deep Sea Rare Earth Mining to Cut China Reliance
Japan embarks Sunday on what it says is the world's first bid to tap deep sea rare earths at a depth of 6,000 metres -- greater than the height of Mount Fuji -- to curb dependence on China. A Japanese deep-sea ...
In Congo’s Cobalt Belt, a Chinese Miner’s Waste Leaves Villages Poisoned and Furious
By Camille Lafont Carrying her sore-pocked daughter across her decaying field, Helene Mvubu says she is one of thousands to have fallen victim to the toxic waste defiling the Democratic Republic of Congo's mining capital. ...
China and LAC at Odds: Blue Diplomacy in the Era of IUU Fishing
In China’s engagement with the Global South, climate diplomacy is one area where Latin American and Caribbean (LAC) countries play a particularly decisive role. The Global South is set to be disproportionately affected by climate change, yet its governments must negotiate solutions with the world’s largest emitters—China ...
Analysis from Cobus van Staden
Chinese Mining Companies Need Deeper Dialogue With Overseas Communities
By Chen Yu Minerals like nickel, lithium, cobalt, and copper are foundational to the global clean-energy transition. Solar panels, wind turbines, EVs, and battery storage cannot be built without them. Yet extracting, processing, and transporting these “transition minerals” can be resource-intensive, ...
G7 to Launch ‘Alliance’ Countering China’s Critical Mineral Dominance
By Ben Simon G7 energy ministers meeting in Canada on Thursday planned to launch a new alliance to counter China's critical mineral dominance, in a push for more reliable access to the resources that power advanced technologies.
Eye-Rolling Through the Apocalypse
November’s COP30 gathering in Belém, Brazil, marks three decades since COP1 in Berlin in 1995, and raises a sobering reminder of how deep we’ve sunk into a climate morass of our own making amid non-stop warnings. The evacuation of millions of people and the deaths ...
Turning Trash into Treasure: Chinese Waste-to-Energy Projects in Central Asia
Since the 1990s, energy has been at the heart of China’s engagement with Central Asia. What began with oil and gas pipelines has, in recent years, expanded into solar and wind, reflecting Beijing’s push toward greener development. Now, a new frontier is opening: waste-to-energy (WtE).
China May Strengthen Climate Role Amid U.S. Fossil Fuel Push
By Issam Ahmed and Ivan Couronne All eyes are on China this week, as the world's biggest polluter readies a new emissions-cutting plan -- reinforcing its role as a steadfast defender of global climate diplomacy while Europe stalls and the United ...
How Chinese Takeout Bags Became Africa’s Street-Style Hit
Chinese social media spotted a quirky trend in African cities like Nairobi. Sturdy, brightly printed Chinese takeout bags, the kind you get from a hotpot chain or milk tea shop, are showing up everywhere. These are not souvenirs from China. They sell for over a dollar ...
Zambian Government Tries to Calm Fears Over Contaminated Water From Chinese Mine Disaster
The Zambian government is seeking to reassure the public that municipal water supplies in communities along the Kafue River are still safe, even though recent tests detected excessive levels of heavy metals following a major environmental disaster at a Chinese-owned copper mine six months ago.