Under Secretary of State for Economic Growth, Energy, and the Environment, Jose W. Fernandez, is currently in New York City to participate in the prestigious 30th Cobalt Congress.
The event serves as a platform for global leaders to discuss critical minerals supply chains and strategies for building secure, sustainable, and resilient networks.
At the forefront of his agenda, Under Secretary Fernandez is set to articulate the United States’ foreign policy objective of expanding and fortifying critical minerals supply chains. This goal is to be achieved through the Minerals Security Partnership (MSP), an alliance comprising 14 nations and the European Union. The MSP aims to drive both public and private investments towards responsible critical minerals supply chains on a global scale.
A key component of the MSP’s strategy is the MSP Forum, established as a conduit to formalize and broaden engagements with minerals-producing nations. The forum prioritizes projects with robust environmental, social, governance, and labor standards while advocating for policies conducive to diverse and resilient supply chains.
During his participation in the Cobalt Congress, Under Secretary Fernandez is scheduled to hold discussions with influential figures from various sectors, including senior business leaders and policymakers from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Indonesia, Europe, and the United States.
The focal points of these discussions will revolve around U.S. efforts to bolster the electric vehicle value chain, particularly through the U.S.-DRC-Zambia tripartite memorandum of understanding (MOU).
Additionally, emphasis will be placed on how the MSP can leverage opportunities to advance secure and diverse cobalt supply chains while aligning with local beneficiation objectives.
