OECD Critical Minerals Forum 2026 : supply chain traceability and resilience

At the high-level OECD Critical Minerals Forum, Elisabeth Caesens stressed that supply chain traceability is not enough to ensure its resilience. To illustrate the point, she used the case of cobalt, 70% of which is sourced from the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Cobalt is one of the best traced and best documented mineral supply chains, including through Resource Matters’ own mapping initiative. Downstream actors have generally focused on media-driven due diligence issues relating to labor conditions in artisanal mining, even when they claimed that artisanally sourced ore is not in their own supply chain. Meanwhile, the industrial sector went by and large unchecked. Specifically, few cobalt users were paying attention to the DRC’s growing frustrations about overproduction and the related price collapse, which led the government to lose more than a billion USD in tax revenue and to ultimately impose a complete ban on cobalt exports, later replaced with a quota system.

This case is a telling tale that should encourage users of critical minerals to read beyond the headlines, engage directly with on-the-ground dynamics, assess the tangible impact of their consumption on affected communities and make sure their sourcing genuinely leads to shared benefits.