Decarbonizing at the Source: Why Raw Materials Are the Blind Spot in Europe's Climate Strategy with Rolf Kuby, DG of Euromines

Host: Alex Cameron, Founder & CEO, Industrial Connect Group

Guest: Rolf Kuby, Director General, Euromines

An EV is not carbon free on the day it rolls off the line. A wind turbine has a footprint before it generates a single watt. The materials these things are built from carry emissions too, and right now, most climate policy either ignores that or assumes someone else in the value chain will sort it out. Rolf Kuby has spent 30 years doing public affairs in Brussels and five of them running Euromines, the European voice of the mining industry. He has a clear view of where the system is broken.

In this episode, Rolf maps the gap between Europe's decarbonization ambitions and the raw material supply chains those ambitions depend on. From the world's first fossil-free mine already operating in Sweden, to the IEA's projection that net zero requires six times current output of critical minerals by 2050, this is a conversation about the part of the transition that doesn't make the headlines but makes everything else possible.

Key Takeaways

1. Why your clean technology has a dirtier footprint than you think. Rolf explains the life cycle accounting that most climate conversations skip, and why ignoring it means the decarbonization model Europe is building isn't one the rest of the world can copy.
2. The scale of what we actually need to mine. The IEA numbers are stark. If you want to understand the supply-side maths behind net zero, this is the clearest five-minute version of it you'll find.
3. Why cheap energy is the single biggest lever Europe isn't pulling. Energy costs, not policy ambition, are the binding constraint on industrial decarbonization - what would actually change if Europe got electricity prices under control?
4. What the Critical Raw Materials Act can and can't do. The CRMA is Europe's first serious attempt at supply-side policy for critical minerals. Rolf explains where it helps, where the money still isn't following, and why the US IRA is moving faster.
5. Why the value chain keeps passing the cost problem sideways. No single sector can absorb the cost of transformation alone, but the current system lets everyone try. What would a functioning value chain model actually require?
6. The silo problem, and whether Brussels is close to solving it. Feed-in tariffs without grid investment. EV policy without battery supply chains. Rolf names the inconsistencies, and is honest about whether the systemic thinking is catching up.
7. End with a slice of optimism based on emerging projects and collaborations

Links:

· Follow Alex Cameron on LinkedIn and find how to get involved with the membership and work of Decarb Connect

· Connect with Rolf Kuby, Director General of Euromines

· Join Alex and a network of hardtech investors and series B+ tech disruptors at Decarb TechInvest in Boston (September 2025)

· Sign up for our newsletter

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