EU and New Caledonia sign strategic partnership on sustainable raw materials

October 20, 2026 by The Sting's Team Leave a Comment

This article is brought to you in association with the European Commission.

Today, the European Commission and the government of New Caledonia signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) establishing a strategic partnership on sustainable raw materials value chains. The MoU was signed in Nouméa, New Caledonia, by Executive Vice-President for Prosperity and Industrial Strategy, Stéphane Séjourné, and President of the Government of New Caledonia, Milakulo Tukumuli, and the Member of the Government in charge of the energy and mining sectors, Alcide Ponga.

The MoU establishes the political framework in which the EU and New Caledonia will cooperate in raw materials value chains. New Caledonia is one of the world’s leading nickel producers, accounting for 3.1% of global production in 2024. The MoU attests to New Caledonia’s broader mineral potential and its privileged status as an Overseas Country and Territory (OCT). The MoU with New Caledonia is the EU’s 17th strategic partnership in raw materials since 2021.

This MoU establishes the five areas in which the EU and New Caledonia will closely cooperate:

Foster the economic and industrial integration of value chains for critical raw materials and other raw materials. Under this heading, the two sides will develop projects of common interest; facilitate access to finance to attract further investments in line with the Global Gateway strategy and the Team Europe approach; and mobilise relevant EU, Member State, and financial institution instruments and private investment.
Cooperate to ensure that New Caledonia’s minerals sector is a lever for sustainable and inclusive economic growth with local and domestic value creation. This encompasses the sustainable exploitation of mineral resources, including the closure and rehabilitation of mining sites, and applying strict environmental, social, and governance (ESG) standards as set out in EU legislation, agreements, guidelines and best practices.
Mobilise support for the infrastructure required for the development of raw materials value chains, taking into consideration the specificities of New Caledonia’s transport and energy infrastructure needs.
Strengthen skills development along raw materials value chains, including through cooperation between relevant educational, vocational training, research and industry actors.
Collaborate on research and innovation for prospecting, exploration, extraction, processing, recycling technologies, refining, substitution, circularity of raw materials as well as on innovative approaches to the closure and rehabilitation of mining sites.

Next steps

Following the signature of the MoU, the EU and New Caledonia will jointly develop a roadmap in consultation with all EU Member States, the European Investment Bank, industry, and partners. The roadmap will feature concrete actions to translate the strategic partnership into practice.

Background

The partnership signed today benefits both parties. It ensures that New Caledonia’s resources underpin sustainable, fair, and inclusive socioeconomic development respecting the highest environmental, sustainability, and governance standards, in line with the Global Gateway Strategy. Global Gateway is the European strategy to boost smart, clean and secure links in the digital, energy and transport sectors and to strengthen health, education and research systems across the world. The Global Gateway strategy embodies a Team Europe approach that brings together the European Union, EU Member States and European development finance institutions.

The partnership also contributes to the resilience and diversification of the EU’s raw materials supply chains, in line with the Critical Raw Materials Act and the RESourceEU Action Plan.

Since 2021, the Commission has established strategic partnerships on raw materials with: in 2021, Canada and Ukraine; in 2022, Kazakhstan and Namibia; in 2023, Argentina, Chile, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Zambia, and Greenland; in 2024, Rwanda, Norway, Uzbekistan, Australia, and Serbia; in 2025, South Africa; and in 2026, the US.

For more information

EU-New Caledonia Memorandum of Understanding

Strategic Partnerships

RESourceEU Communication

Critical Raw Materials Act

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