Mineral Resource Governance in the 21st Century and a sustainable European Union

Abstract

Minerals and metals are ingredients necessary for the production of multiple goods and services that are essential to contemporary societies, feeding frequently complex global supply chains. The development of the modern, material-intensive lifestyles has led to a formidable acceleration of their production, particularly since the middle of the 20th century. Despite all the progress that can and needs to be done towards a circular, resource-efficient global economy, several important trends including: demographic growth (United Nations 2019 ), the rapid development of the global middle class (Kharas 2017 ), growing urbanisation (United Nations 2018 ) and the transition towards a low-carbon global economy (Hund et al. 2020 ) point towards a continued, exponential growth of the global demand and production of minerals and metals (Christmann 2017 ; Elshkaki et al. 2018 ; Halada et al. 2008 ; Hund et al. 2020 ; Schipper et al. 2018 ). Despite the efforts made by some producers and some authorities to strengthen the already important contribution of the minerals and metals industry to the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the production of minerals and metals has negative impacts both on the global and on local ecosystems. It already contributes to 16% of global CO 2 emissions (OECD 2019 ) and it generates about 50 bn t solid waste per year, 25 times the estimated annual amount of urban waste (Franks et al. 2021 ). This waste is composed of mostly barren rock fragments, essentially overburden that needed to be stripped to access the ore, and of fine-grained ore processing tailings. The latter, if containing sulphides such as pyrite and residual minerals containing elements such as arsenic, cadmium, mercury, selenium or tellurium, can become highly problematic for the well-being of future generations. The production of minerals and metals also can be a source of conflicts and of social disruption. Failure to globally and sustainably manage the production of minerals and metals, in a transparent and multilateral framework providing a stable, foreseeable and level playing field for investors and for trade, could limit the capacity of the industry to reply to future demand and lead to potentially disastrous global conflicts. Depending on the practices of individual producers, on the quality of national and/or regional regulatory frameworks and on the effectiveness of their implementation, a same mineral or metal can be produced under very differing environmental and social conditions. Despite progress on sustainability performance reporting and of transparency of some parts of the industry, end-users of...

What we have learned from the past and how we should look forward

“…Two examples of how environmental and social pressure is increasing to impede the start-up of new mining operations (Christmann 2021): in British Columbia/Canada the largescale Schaft Creek open-pit copper mine with a resource of 3.3 million tonnes of copper content started its mandatory environmental assessment process in 2006, producing over 50 studies so far without obtaining the necessary Environmental Assessment Certificate. The Pebble Mine project in Alaska from which four major mining companies (Cominco/ Teck, Mitsubishi, Rio Tinto, Anglo American) walked away, is one of the world's largest undeveloped copper deposit of nearly 26 million tonnes of contained copper.…”

“Illegal” Gold Mining Operations in Ghana: Implication for Climate-Smart Agriculture in Northwestern Ghana

“…The study revealed that surface exploration and mining of the gold deposit in the Nadwoli-Kaleo district by the illegal miners have resulted in the loss of biodiversity, formation of sinkholes, contamination of soil and ground, and surface water pollution. Over the years, illegal mining has been a subject of discussion due to it perceived implications now and in the future with respect to environmental sustainability and agricultural land management (Kwadwo et al, 2016;Apollo et al, 2017;Mwakesi et al, 2020;Christmann, 2021). To determine the implication of illegal mining on the environment and its replicate effects on climate-smart agriculture, residents were asked to indicate the environmental effects of illegal mining on their environment.…”

“…In Kenya and Cote d'Ivoire, for instance, mining has observed to be an off-farm livelihood activity for farmers and other agriculturalists (Apollo et al, 2017;Mwakesi et al, 2020). Notwithstanding the potential contributions of the mining industry to the economies of many developing countries, it has observed to be detrimental to sustainable development due to its hard implication on environmental sustainability and management (Christmann, 2021;Yamarak and Parton, 2021).…”

Exploring frame conflicts in the development of a new mineral resource policy in Austria using Q-methodology

“…the EU Conflict Minerals Regulation). On EU policy level, the RMI has played a pivotal role in mineral resource policy making by focusing on activities around the three pillars of (i) domestic mineral extraction, (ii) access to international sources, and (iii) resource efficiency, recycling, and decreased consumption (EC 2008 ; Christmann 2021 ). This strategy is complemented by the European Innovation Partnership on Raw Materials (EIP-RM 2013 ) and its Strategic Implementation Plan (EIP-RM SIP) consisting of 95 specific implementation actions across seven priority areas, including supply security (e.g.…”

“…This strategy is complemented by the European Innovation Partnership on Raw Materials (EIP-RM 2013 ) and its Strategic Implementation Plan (EIP-RM SIP) consisting of 95 specific implementation actions across seven priority areas, including supply security (e.g. improving supply conditions and diversification of raw materials sourcing), resource efficiency, substitution, and environmental, social, and health impacts (EIP-RM 2013 ; Christmann 2021 ).…”