Metal Sourcing For a Sustainable Future

Metal Sourcing For a Sustainable Future

Drastic measures are required to meet the standards of the Paris Agreement and limit the increase of global average temperatures well below 2°C compared to pre-industrial levels. Mining activities are typically considered as unsustainable but, at the same time, metals such as cobalt and lithium are...

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Main Authors: Ortwin Renn, Richard Gloaguen, Christina Benighaus, Leila Ajjabou, Ludger Benighaus, Virginia Del Rio, Javier Gómez, Sari Kauppi, Michaela Keßelring, Moritz Kirsch, Marko Komac, Juha Kotilainen, Elena Kozlovskaya, Jari Lyytimaki, Cathryn McCallum, Tuija Mononen, Jouni Nevalainen, Lasse Peltonen, Jukka-Pekka Ranta, Stephane Ruiz, Jon Russill, Frank Wagner
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Frontiers Media S.A. 2022-12-01
Series:Earth Science, Systems and Society
Subjects:
sustainable mining operation
environmental impact analysis
socio-economic consequences of mining
mining regulation
sustainability governance
Online Access:https://www.lyellcollection.org/doi/10.3389/esss.2022.10049
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Summary:Drastic measures are required to meet the standards of the Paris Agreement and limit the increase of global average temperatures well below 2°C compared to pre-industrial levels. Mining activities are typically considered as unsustainable but, at the same time, metals such as cobalt and lithium are essential to sustain the energy transition. Several sustainability goals defined by the United Nations (UN) require large quantities of raw materials. Exploration and extractives activities are required in order to contribute to meeting sustainability standards. Future sourcing of metals will need to implement procedures that go well beyond current ecological, economic, and social requirements and practices. In this paper we assess the usual sustainability criteria and how they apply to the extractives sector. Sustainability can only be achieved if one accepts that the natural capital can be substituted by other forms of capital (so called weak concept of sustainability). Sourcing the raw materials increasingly demanded by our societies will need transparent and inclusive stakeholder participation as well as a holistic understanding of the impact of extractives activities to reach this weak sustainability status. Our analysis shows that the sustainability of mining cannot be reached without harmonized political instruments and investment policies that take the three pillars of environmental, economic, and social sustainability as a major priority.
ISSN:2634-730X

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