## 3 Inventory of Mineral Resources Management on the European Level
### Importance of Mineral Resources Management at the European Level
#### 3.1.2 Management of Mineral Resources According to the European Green Deal  
The European Green Deal is the newest EU strategy which is also an integral part of actions related to the implementation of the United Nation's 2030 Agenda and sustainable development goals [27]. The Agenda indicated 17 SDG to prevent climate change through better natural resource management. The European Green Deal assumes that sustainability and the well-being of citizens are the centre of economic policy, while SD goals are at the heart of the EU's policy making and action [1]. The main elements of the new European strategy are presented in Figure 2.  
In Communication [1], the EC presents the roadmap of the key policies and measures which have to be taken in order to achieve the European Green Deal. The strategic actions which have to be implemented in the area of mineral resources management include the development of a set of deeply transformative policies, taking into account sustainability in all European policies. The management of RMs has to include the three aspects of the SD--economic, environmental and social. It is strongly underlined that the sustainable use of resources and improving human health have to be increased in order to deliver the European Green Deal. Another important element is the mobilisation of industry for a clean and circular economy as, in the last 50 years, the annual global extraction of materials increased three times and it continues to grow, creating a major global risk. Currently, approximately half of the total greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and >90% of biodiversity loss and water stress come from RM extraction and the processing of materials, fuels and food. Moreover, only 12% of the materials which are used in the European economy come from recycling. Therefore, the continuation of actions focused on increasing recovery and recycling rates are a priority. This is especially important in the aspect of the management of the critical raw materials (CRMs) which both are of high economic importance for the EU and have a high risk of supply disruption [28]. The EC carries out a criticality assessment at the EU level on a wide range of RMs every three years, starting in 2011 [16]. In the last CRMs list, 27 RMS are indicated, including, for example, phosphorus and phosphate rock, rare earth elements, cobalt or niobium [29]. Access to all necessary RMs is also a strategic security target for the European ambition to deliver the Green Deal [1]. An uninterrupted supply of sustainable RMs (with strong emphasis on the CRMs) is necessary for clean technologies, space digital, and defence applications. However, it can be only realised by the diversification of the supply of both primary and secondary RMs. The EC is searching for the European \"climate and resource frontrunners\" in the industry to propose the first commercial applications of breakthrough technologies in strategic industrial sectors by 2030. Key areas include pure hydrogen, fuel cells and other alternative fuels, energy storage as  
Figure 2: The ambitions of the European Green Deal (own, based on [1]). well as carbon capture, storage and utilization. Moreover, digital technologies are indicated as a critical enabler for attaining the SD goals in many different sectors as they create several opportunities for the monitoring and optimisation of natural resource usage and material flows. The materials, such as sand, cement or gravel, which are used in the construction sector, need to be managed in a more resource-efficient way. In the context of global population growth, providing healthier and organic food is a very important challenge, while a reduction in food waste has been observed in recent years. Therefore, one of the strategic objectives of the Green Deal is to build a fair, healthy and environmentally friendly food system. At present, the food sector consumes huge amounts of natural resources while wasting a large amount of the food produced. There are several new opportunities for all actors in the food value chain.