Our civilisation is at the start of a period of major transformation as we address decarburisation of our industries, the transition to renewable energy generation, and electrical power storage technologiesTechnology and electrically powered vehicles. The changes will impact on all stages of the metalMetal supplySupply chain, primary metalMetal production, metalMetal recyclingRecycling, and environmental stewardship and will take decades to achieve. Meeting the predicted increases in demandDemand for metalsMetal will require not only increases in productivity and efficiencyEfficiency of existing processes but also sustained investmentInvestment in R&D and new ideas. These new ideas and innovations come from people, people with specialist knowledge, skills, and experience. With the continuing growth in demandDemand for commodities, now is the time for the industry to invest in people. InvestmentsInvestment in educationEducation and improved skills are essential to support the future sustainabilitySustainability and profitability of enterprises in our industry. The problem is people cannot be simply bought off the shelf like most commodities. It takes time to produce a well-trained metallurgist with appropriate knowledge, skills, and experience. The metallurgical industry needs to make greater efforts to actively engage with young people. To stimulate their interest, and effectively demonstrate to them that there are exciting and rewarding opportunities for them to contribute positively to addressing the global challenges facing our societies and the global environment and to creating a better, more sustainable world. If we are to address these significant challenges, these additional efforts need to start now. InvestmentsInvestment in metallurgical educationEducation and skills development provide net benefits to the industry and should be a key budget item included in all major capital investmentInvestment proposals.