Resourcing GPNs: multi-scalar state derisking of energy transition minerals at a time of polycrisis

Abstract

There is a tendency in global production network (GPN) analyses to primarily focus on manufacturing and distribution, rather than tracking back to their raw material origins. This risks missing important insights at a time when the sourcing of key energy transition materials (ETMs) has become an area of acute geopolitical-economic importance. This article investigates efforts to facilitate the production and processing of ETMs in Australia, and specifically the role played by state actors, in response to polycrisis drivers of geopolitical tensions and climate emergency. The strategies pursued by Australian state entities to develop mining and processing take a ‘derisking’ approach. We detail six forms of risk to ETM projects (technical; investment; market; environmental/social; workforce; regulatory) and three state derisking strategies, operating at distinct yet interconnected spatial scales: (1) financial support mechanisms designed to derisk projects for the private sector proponents (the subsidising role of state actors); (2) the designation of regional ‘hubs’ for ETMs with infrastructural support and expedited planning approvals (the streamlining role of state actors); and (3) transnational networking activities to connect projects to both international funders and markets in the context of geopolitical rifts (the brokering role of state actors). Such derisking strategies are central to connecting Australian firms with international investors and buyers to thereby resource alternate ‘Western’ GPNs. Critical engagement with the concept of derisking offers a productive understanding of the evolving role of state actors in resourcing new and alternate GPNs, while simultaneously spatializing understandings of the ‘derisking state’.