Investigating the Relation Between Raw Materials and Climate Change in the Literature

Raw materials are essential for the green and digital (twin) transition society needs to accomplish to reach climate targets and neutrality by 2050. This is because they supply renewable energy and digital technologies allowing climate-resilient development pathways. On the other hand, the extraction and processing of raw materials contribute to GHGs and therefore to climate change impacting the environment. The author explores the controversial discussion on the topic of raw materials and climate change in the literature on Web of Science and Google Scholar from 1900 to the present. Literature review, bibliographic coupling and natural language techniques reveal that the raw materials and climate change nexus is a current topic with over 57% of the literature being published between 2018 and the present day. Furthermore, it relates to interdisciplinary research and the interconnectedness of different disciplines and sectors. Therefore, a systemic approach is suggested when investigating this topic. The literature highlights that even though a transition to a renewable energy system will be mineral intensive, it is feasible to enforce resulting in reduced GHGs emissions when compared to fossil fuel-based scenarios.