Systemic risk has become the conversation in every boardroom, but the conversation has not gone deep enough. The International Energy Agency's Global Critical Minerals Outlook 2026, published in July, projects that supply deficits for copper are set to persist through 2035, with a 25% shortfall. Data center electricity consumption will roughly double from 485 TWh in 2025 to 950 TWh in 2030, accounting for around 3% of global electricity demand by that date, according to the IEA's Key Questions on Energy and AI report. These are not distant projections. They are the arithmetic of the next five years.
Business leaders understand that these risks exist. What they often do not understand is how deeply the risks are embedded in the foundations of their own operations. The conversation stays at the level of awareness. It rarely descends to the level of the balance sheet, where the exposure actually sits.
