Resources Policy最新文献

{"title":"Critical minerals volatility under ESG uncertainty: Implications for the clean energy transition","authors":"Oktay Ozkan ,&nbsp;Emmanuel Uche ,&nbsp;Chinazaekpere Nwani ,&nbsp;Kingsley I. Okere","doi":"10.1016/j.resourpol.2025.105678","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.resourpol.2025.105678","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Critical minerals are essential to the clean energy transition as key inputs for renewable energy technologies. However, growing uncertainty in environmental, social, and governance (ESG) factors has introduced significant volatility into critical mineral markets, with implications for energy security and sustainability. This study investigates the impact of ESG uncertainty (ESGU) on the volatility of critical minerals using global monthly data from November 2002 to September 2024 and applying quantile-on-quantile regression (QQR) techniques. The results reveal heterogeneous relationships across the distributions: ESGU is negatively associated with critical mineral volatility at lower ESGU quantiles and higher mineral quantiles (except platinum); neutral associations emerge at mid-quantiles; and strong positive associations are observed when both ESGU and mineral volatility are high. These findings highlight how ESG-related risks add layers of unpredictability to mineral markets, potentially affecting clean energy production costs, investment flows, and long-term supply chain resilience. Policymakers should mitigate these risks by diversifying supply chains through domestic exploration, international partnerships, and strategic stockpiling to ensure stable access to critical raw materials for the clean energy sector.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":20970,"journal":{"name":"Resources Policy","volume":"108 ","pages":"Article 105678"},"PeriodicalIF":10.2,"publicationDate":"2025-07-11","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144604138","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Impact of natural resource management on entrepreneurial activity and SME growth in emerging economies: Does the rule of law matter?","authors":"Lawal Olamilekan Abdulwahab ,&nbsp;Ismaheel Adewumi Raji ,&nbsp;Shokunbi Morufu Oladimeji","doi":"10.1016/j.resourpol.2025.105674","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.resourpol.2025.105674","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Although existing studies have acknowledged the critical role of natural resource endowments in driving economic growth, harnessing its full potential is far from straightforward—it often hinges on the presence of sound governance structures, effective policies, and strong institutions, particularly the rule of law. Therefore, the study examines the moderating effect of the rule of law on the impact of natural resource management on entrepreneurial activity and SME growth across the 11 selected ECOWAS nations. The study employs panel data ranging from 2006 to 2022 (i.e., 17 years), using two (2) advanced econometric techniques (Heteroskedasticity Panel Corrected Standard Errors (HPCSE) and Feasible Generalized Least Squares (FGLS). The findings indicate the presence of a resource curse in the ECOWAS region, wherein the abundance of natural resources exerts a negative effect on entrepreneurial activity and the growth of SMEs. Moreover, the rule of law proves to be ineffective in mitigating these negative outcomes and its interaction with natural resource rents reveals only a weak relationship, suggesting that legal frameworks within ECOWAS countries are insufficient to mitigate the adverse impacts of resource dependency. In contrast, population growth and government expenditure on education exhibit a positive influence on entrepreneurial activity and SME growth, underscoring their role in stimulating both demand and supply within the regional economy. Practical policy recommendations include prioritizing education spending and implement legal and institutional reforms as central policy measures to reduce overreliance on natural resources and drive sustainable business growth.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":20970,"journal":{"name":"Resources Policy","volume":"108 ","pages":"Article 105674"},"PeriodicalIF":10.2,"publicationDate":"2025-07-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144596634","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Geopolitical risks, critical materials and energy transition: Insights from wavelet analysis","authors":"Lyubov Doroshenko ,&nbsp;Ivan De Crescenzo ,&nbsp;Loretta Mastroeni ,&nbsp;Alessandro Mazzoccoli","doi":"10.1016/j.resourpol.2025.105666","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.resourpol.2025.105666","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>This paper investigates how the prices of selected energy transition-related commodities respond to geopolitical risks, with particular attention to the suitability of a widely used geopolitical risk index in relation to the commodities included in the dataset. From a methodological perspective, the analysis is conducted via a wavelet-based method. The dataset includes natural gas, copper, palladium, and cobalt futures prices, whose time series cover a fourteen-year time span (2010-2024), while geopolitical risk is measured through the well known text-based geopolitical risk (GPR) index by Caldara and Iacoviello. The study is supported by an in-depth geopolitical discussion, analyzing events and dynamics relevant to the current international context. Our investigation shows different degrees of correlation between geopolitical risk and the above-mentioned commodities. From an overall perspective, commodities with a long-standing history of application tend to exhibit a more straightforward connection with geopolitical dynamics. In contrast, those that have recently gained prominence in the energy transition — especially newer entrants — show weaker and less consistent signals. In this respect, despite its widespread use in the literature, we infer that the GPR index has certain limitations when used to explain dynamics affecting rare and critical elements — particularly those sourced from geographical areas that are not regularly covered by mainstream media. The issue of the GPR index’s adequacy in such contexts appears to be largely overlooked in current academic sources. Recognizing that the energy transition is driving a paradigm shift from a geostrategic standpoint requires a critical awareness when employing such indexes. At the same time, it calls for rethinking how risk indexes are designed, so that they better reflect geopolitical phenomena linked to the new centers of gravity emerging from the energy transition. The results are directed towards policymakers and regulators, who are called upon to govern the energy transition with a focus on the availability of critical materials in the coming decades.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":20970,"journal":{"name":"Resources Policy","volume":"108 ","pages":"Article 105666"},"PeriodicalIF":10.2,"publicationDate":"2025-07-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144588309","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Towards sustainable mine closure and reclamation through strategic tailing disposal sites evaluation: A causality-based Dempster-Shafer framework","authors":"Mahdi Samadi ,&nbsp;Seyyed-Omid Gilani ,&nbsp;Jafar Abdollahisharif ,&nbsp;Ezzeddin Bakhtavar","doi":"10.1016/j.resourpol.2025.105676","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.resourpol.2025.105676","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Tailings, the byproducts of mineral processing, present substantial environmental risks, both physically and chemically, including potential irreversible ecological damage if not properly managed. This study introduces a hybrid decision-support framework for evaluating strategic tailings disposal sites by integrating sustainability, mine closure planning, and risk-informed governance. A key innovation is the direct linkage between tailings siting and mine reclamation strategies, offering new insights for sustainable mining. The framework combines fuzzy cognitive mapping (FCM) for causal analysis with Dempster-Shafer Theory (DST)-based evidential reasoning to address uncertainty and expert judgment variability. Twelve site selection criteria were identified from literature and expert consultation, with interdependencies modeled using a hybrid nonlinear Hebbian learning–differential evolution (NHL-DE) FCM algorithm. The approach was applied to the Zarshouran Gold Mine in Iran to support decisions in line with global tailings governance frameworks such as the Global Industry Standard on Tailings Management (GISTM). DST was used to compute belief degrees for alternative sites, reflecting environmental, technical, and socio-economic factors. Results revealed that “Socioeconomic impact on downstream communities” and “Engineering challenges” were the most influential criteria (both with normalized causal weights of 0.110). The most favorable site, located near the processing plant, achieved an 84.6 % belief degree at the “Good-Excellent” level, followed by a site near the pit (82.4 %). By streamlining methodology and emphasizing site-specific insights, the framework offers a robust tool for prioritizing tailings sites under uncertainty, aligning technical evaluations with ESG principles and mine closure objectives.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":20970,"journal":{"name":"Resources Policy","volume":"108 ","pages":"Article 105676"},"PeriodicalIF":10.2,"publicationDate":"2025-07-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144570832","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"How sensitive is nuclear production to critical minerals?","authors":"Luccas Assis Attílio","doi":"10.1016/j.resourpol.2025.105670","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.resourpol.2025.105670","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Nuclear energy production has the advantage of being less dependent on weather conditions, but it relies on critical minerals. This study examines this dependency by constructing a model with 38 countries, representing 94 % of global nuclear production. The analysis employs the GVAR model and Granger Causality from November 2000 to December 2023. The results show that higher uranium, nickel, and copper prices negatively impact international nuclear energy production, illustrating spillover effects. Variance decomposition reveals the influence of oil and stock markets on nuclear energy, with oil markets playing a particularly significant role in the U.S. and Europe. A series of robustness tests confirmed these findings by: i) excluding the COVID-19 period, ii) incorporating oil price volatility into the model, iii) changing the data frequency from monthly to annual, iv) using an alternative proxy for nuclear energy, and v) applying time-varying bilateral trade. The findings support policies that encourage free international trade and trade agreements to enhance the production and exchange of critical minerals.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":20970,"journal":{"name":"Resources Policy","volume":"108 ","pages":"Article 105670"},"PeriodicalIF":10.2,"publicationDate":"2025-07-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144569827","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Oil price swings and inflationary echoes: The impact of oil market shocks on consumer and producer prices in Europe and the U.S.","authors":"Joana Gago,&nbsp;Sofia Vale","doi":"10.1016/j.resourpol.2025.105667","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.resourpol.2025.105667","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>This paper empirically investigates the impact of oil price fluctuations on inflation in France, Germany, Portugal, and the United States. Employing a Structural Vector Autoregression (SVAR) model, we analyze the effects of oil supply shocks, global aggregate demand shocks, and oil-specific demand shocks on headline and core inflation as well as the Producer Price Index. Our findings indicate that oil market shocks have non-persistent inflationary effects, with producer prices showing greater volatility compared to consumer prices. The most significant effects stem from oil-specific demand shocks. The study highlights the need for central banks to consider various inflation metrics and the adoption of renewable energies to mitigate the instability caused by oil price swings. The response of each economy to the shocks differs from consumer price and producer price perspectives, revealing the importance of analyzing distinct economic realities and using different inflation measures for more robust conclusions.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":20970,"journal":{"name":"Resources Policy","volume":"107 ","pages":"Article 105667"},"PeriodicalIF":10.2,"publicationDate":"2025-07-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144549393","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"The effects of high indebtedness on natural resources extraction in Ghana","authors":"Michael Kwame Asiedu ,&nbsp;Joseph Antwi Baafi","doi":"10.1016/j.resourpol.2025.105671","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.resourpol.2025.105671","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The relationship between natural resource and indebtedness is central to achieving sustainable development. While several studies have explored the relationship between natural resources and public debt at cross-country levels, there has been limited focus on country-specific analyses, particularly for resource-rich nations like Ghana. Thus, this paper provides empirical evidence on the impact of high public debt on natural resources extraction in Ghana. Using time series data from 1980 to 2023, we employ the Fully Modified Ordinary Least Square (FMOLS) estimator while utilizing the Dynamic Ordinary Least Square (DOLS) and Canonical Cointegration Regression (CCR) estimators to ensure the robustness of our results. The findings of our regression estimation indicate that rising public debt is associated with increase in natural resources extraction. This finding holds for both aggregate and disaggregated public debts. The study also finds that foreign direct investment, inflation, financial development and commodity prices drive natural resource extraction in Ghana while economic growth is found to reduce the rate of natural resource extraction in the long run. Further, we discover in this study a feedback causality between public debt and natural resources extraction. Regarding policy implications, the findings of our study suggest that strategies targeted at reducing reckless borrowing and ensure fiscal discipline would most likely reduce the excessive dependence on natural resources and ensure environmental sustainability in the long term.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":20970,"journal":{"name":"Resources Policy","volume":"107 ","pages":"Article 105671"},"PeriodicalIF":10.2,"publicationDate":"2025-07-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144535935","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Recognizing historic injustice in a coal-rich district: A case study of Singrauli, India","authors":"Kopal Dhandhania,&nbsp;Jeemol Unni,&nbsp;Minal Pathak","doi":"10.1016/j.resourpol.2025.105668","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.resourpol.2025.105668","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":20970,"journal":{"name":"Resources Policy","volume":"107 ","pages":"Article 105668"},"PeriodicalIF":10.2,"publicationDate":"2025-07-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144522841","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Security movements in extractive spaces: Dispossession, community-level grievance and resource conflicts in Ghana","authors":"Phil Faanu ,&nbsp;Nathan Andrews ,&nbsp;Augustine Gyan ,&nbsp;Sulemana Alhassan Saaka","doi":"10.1016/j.resourpol.2025.105669","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.resourpol.2025.105669","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The African extractive sector is increasingly marked by grievance, conflict, and emerging security challenges. Focused on Ghana, this paper delves into community-level grievances and the concomitant security movements within extractive environments. Its central objective is to critically analyze these novel security movements as integral components of natural resource governance in Ghana's mining industry, elucidating their role in exacerbating or mitigating community-level grievances and dispossession. Additionally, it investigates the influence of security-related policies on other community grievances and security movements within natural resource governance. Our investigation reveals that the militarized policy approach to mineral extraction governance triggers new forms of security movements against mining activities. Secondly, we established that the criminalization of galamsey - illegal mining - breeds significant tension and grievance between citizens and the central government. Thirdly, mining companies’ failure to fulfill compensation and benefits agreements creates animosity, which results in violent confrontations with local communities. Finally, as a result, community members resort to resistance as a counter-hegemonic project against the adverse effects of mining activities and ill-willed government policies to manage mineral extraction. The paper, therefore, sheds light on these ‘new form security movements and their implications for community-level conflicts and grievances in Ghana's mining sector.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":20970,"journal":{"name":"Resources Policy","volume":"107 ","pages":"Article 105669"},"PeriodicalIF":10.2,"publicationDate":"2025-07-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144518407","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"The only constant is change: Evidence on the declining role of fossil fuels and the rise of strategic metals in energy transition","authors":"Savaş Tarkun","doi":"10.1016/j.resourpol.2025.105665","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.resourpol.2025.105665","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>This study explores the shifting informational dynamics between fossil fuels and strategic metals in the context of global energy transition. Using a dual-frequency framework—frequency-domain Granger causality and time-frequency connectedness—we analyze daily data from 2018 to 2025, covering Brent crude oil, coal, and key strategic metals such as copper, lithium, and nickel. Our findings reveal a structural transformation: fossil fuels have become increasingly reactive, while strategic metals act as forward-looking market leaders. These metals not only represent essential inputs for green technologies but also function as systemic financial signals across time horizons. The results highlight a reconfiguration of energy-related influence networks, underscoring the growing role of resource-critical markets in shaping expectations, volatility, and long-term planning. This study contributes to a more integrated understanding of how material flows and financial signals intersect in the green transition, offering novel insights for energy policy, market design, and sustainable investment strategies.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":20970,"journal":{"name":"Resources Policy","volume":"107 ","pages":"Article 105665"},"PeriodicalIF":10.2,"publicationDate":"2025-06-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144517794","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}