SLR experts published by Table.Media on responsible supply chains for critical raw minerals
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SLR experts published by Table.Media on responsible supply chains for critical raw minerals
- Post Date
- 09 December 2025
- Read Time
- 4 minutes
A recent article published by leading online media platform Table.Media explores Germany’s Raw Material Fund, a €1 billion initiative aimed at securing critical minerals, necessary for key industries such as renewable energy. Written by SLR’s Maria-Yassin Jah, Transition Finance Lead, and Simon Gewoelb, Managing Consultant for Corporate Sustainability Advisory, the piece emphasises a crucial point: high environmental and social standards directly contribute to supply chain security. Maria and Simon argue that the fund is an important first step, but the opportunity for Germany to strengthen its security of supply with critical raw materials can only be fully realised through the removal some internal barriers to increase the pace of investment decision-making as well as close coordination with local stakeholders and international partners.
This aligns closely with SLR’s expertise in supporting organisations integrate these standards into their strategies and management systems - helping businesses navigate complex ESG requirements while maintaining operational integrity.
The full article is available here (in German)
Please note that registration is required to access the complete text.
Table.MediaAt SLR, our global team works with clients to implement robust environmental and social frameworks that underpin supply chain resilience and long-term security.
SLR’s Better Mining initiative shows that high environmental and social standards make a direct contribution to the stability of supply chains. Through daily monitoring, reliable traceability and the consistent implementation of improvement measures, several thousand safety and social incidents were systematically addressed in 2024 alone. This reduces operational risks, increases data quality and transparency along the value chain, and enables companies to invest specifically in cooperative and resilient business relationships.
➡ Learn more about Better Mining.
Maria-Yassin Jah is Head of Transition Finance Advisory at SLR. Maria’s professional experience over the past 18 years has centred on the intersection of finance, the energy and commodities sectors, and sustainable development - with a particular focus on the battery value chain, spanning critical minerals extraction, mid-stream processing, and manufacturing. She has held a range of strategically focused roles, both in-house and in consulting, giving her deep insight into the commercial and sustainability challenges, as well as the financing needs, across global supply chains. Maria supports both sides of investment transactions across Africa, Asia, Latin America, the Middle East and Europe: helping investees across the battery and energy sectors to develop and implement commercial strategies underpinned by sustainability principles and aligned with investor, regulatory, market, and community expectations, while also assisting investors with market entry strategies, joint venture planning and execution and integrated due diligence programmes.
Maria is a member of the Global Perspectives Initiative’s Commission “A Changing World – Germany and the Global South. The purpose of which is to address the growing strategic importance of the Global South in shaping global dynamics.
The Commission, chaired by former Federal Minister of Defense Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer, has developed actionable recommendations for Germany's engagement with countries of the Global South, considering demographic trends, critical minerals, and technological influence.
Simon’s Gewoelb is a specialist in business and human rights, social performance, and environmental and social (E&S) due diligence, with over ten years of experience in the United Nations system, multilateral development banks, and global sustainability advisory firms. His work spans development finance, responsible business conduct, and ESG risk management across Africa, Latin America, Asia, Europe, and North America.
He has advised initiatives such as the UN Global Compact, the B20 Working Groups, and the UN Working Group on Business and Human Rights, as well as companies in sectors including mining, the battery value chain, textiles, agriculture, and manufacturing. His expertise includes human rights due diligence, stakeholder engagement, ESG strategy, and alignment with the UN Guiding Principles and IFC Performance Standards. A certified SA8000 Social Compliance Auditor and GRI Professional, he has led multi-stakeholder projects and supported executive teams in strengthening responsible business conduct across global value chains.
Simon also serves as adjunct faculty at the University of Bonn, where he teaches a graduate course on business and human rights.
