Join us in advancing innovative technologies and expertise to prevent, detect and disrupt minerals crime. Submit your proposal by 31 August 2026.
The global expansion of mineral supply chains, driven by the energy transition, digital technologies and strategic resource competition, has created new opportunities for economic growth, but also for organized crime. Minerals crime has evolved from localized illegal extraction into a systemic and transnational phenomenon embedded in global trade, logistics and financial systems. The complexity of mineral supply chains, combined with regulatory gaps, uneven regulatory frameworks across countries and weak oversight, creates opportunities for illegally sourced minerals to enter legitimate markets.
UNICRI is seeking innovative ideas and technology solutions that can help prevent, detect and disrupt criminal infiltration of critical energy transition minerals (CETMs) supply chains. To facilitate the collection of inputs, UNICRI has developed a series of risk scenarios illustrating existing and emerging threats in this area.
UNICRI welcomes contributions covering existing, emerging or prototype technologies that can be applied across one or more stages of the critical mineral supply chain, including extraction, transport, processing, commercialization, export, financial investigations and supply chain traceability.
This call for technology inputs is organized within the framework of UNICRI's SIRIO (Security through Innovation, Research and Information Organization) initiative and is addressed to security experts and representatives from industry, academia, civil society, international organizations, and other relevant stakeholders.
The contributions received will support the update of UNICRI's report, Technology and Security: Countering Criminal Infiltrations in the Legitimate Supply Chain, which examined emerging and future risks affecting key supply chain security sectors.
The report is available here
Experts and organizations interested in contributing to this initiative and receiving the risk scenarios are invited to contact UNICRI by 31 August 2026:
Mr. Marco Musumeci (marco.musumeci@un.org)
Mr. Matthew Burnett-Stuart (matthew.burnettstuart@un.org)
