In today’s edition:

⚡️ EU pens deal for critical raw materials

🚜 More lab-grown meat in the US

🌳 Historic high-seas treaty

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⚡️ Energy (1-minute read)

EU signs Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on critical raw materials with Argentina

What happened? The past few months have seen a flurry of trade deals focussed on critical minerals (EU&USA, EU&Chile, USA&Aus … to name just a few). This week the EU penned another deal with Argentina to develop a ‘secure and sustainable supply chain’ for minerals critical to net-zero ambitions.

Why? In 2032, Europe will make up 25% of lithium demand, but on the supply side, it will contribute only 4% globally, according to Fastmarkets. Argentina is a producer of copper and holds the world's second-largest lithium reserves. Because global lithium supply is concentrated in a few nations, and demand is expected to outstrip supply significantly, companies in the US, China, Japan and South Korea are using supply agreements to secure future supply with lithium producers.

Other sources: We spoke last week about the EU releasing the world’s most stringent standards for sustainable batteries. The Memorandum specifically calls out cooperation on research and innovation along the raw materials value chains - with potential sanctions for bad actors.

🚜 AgriTech (1-minute read)

More lab-grown meat news with US approval for the sale of cultivated meat

The US became the second country in the world to authorise the production and sale of lab-grown meat. This decision could be a pivotal moment in the food industry as concerns grow about the environmental impact of meat production.

Benefits: Producing meat from livestock is inefficient. Chickens (the most efficient form of livestock) consume 9-10 calories for every calorie of edible protein they produce, and ensuring they get enough calories (through grain feed) is a primary driver of deforestation and biodiversity loss. While cultivated meat could achieve a ratio of 3-4 calories in for every edible calorie out, representing a significant efficiency (and environmental) boost.

Formidable future: Lab-grown meat's challenge is scaling production to achieve cost-competitiveness. Although approval in the US presents a massive opportunity, success is not a given — with a study stating the cost of cultivation facilities and resources will always be too high for the economics of cultured meat to make sense.

🌳 Nature (1-minute read)

UN adopts first ‘historic’ treaty to protect high seas

What’s happened: The United Nations has adopted the first-ever international treaty to govern the high seas after 15+ years of discussions. The pact will extend environmental protections to international waters, which cover more than 60% of the earth’s surface.

Details:

Challenges: The text does not say how conservation measures will be monitored and enforced over remote swathes of the ocean — a task that will fall to the COP… but expect remote monitoring start-ups such as OceanAccess to get a boost from the news.

💭 Little Bytes

Quote: “With global extinction rates higher than they have ever been, and ambitious global targets to halt and reverse nature loss by 2030, the stakes have never been higher.” The UK-French Advisory Panel’s co-chair, Dame Amelia Fawcett

Stat: Indonesia, home to a third of the world's rainforests, has seen its annual deforestation drop by 8.4%.

Watch: Mini solar plants lighting up Rural Madagascar

🗞 In other news…

🎣 Gone Phishing

Three of these stories are true, one we've made up. Guess which:

🌞 Climate meme of the week

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