The European Commission on Thursday unveiled its long-awaited plans to help the region access the key raw materials required for the energy transition.

The Critical Raw Materials Act (CRMA) aims to stockpile critical materials, introduce targets for domestic supplies and pave the way for incentives for clean-tech projects in the European Union.

Critical materials such as cobalt, lithium and rare earth metals that are hazardous to extract are vital components in technologies used for the energy transition, such as wind turbines and solar panels, but are not available in significant quanitites in the EU.