Metal sourcing for a sustainable future
Renn, Ortwin; Gloaguen, Richard; Benighaus, Christina; Ajjabou, Leila; Benighaus, Ludger; Del Rio, Virginia; Gómez, Javier; Kauppi, Sari; Keßelring, Michaela; Kirsch, Moritz; Komac, Marko; Kotilainen, Juha; Kozlovskaya, Elena; Lyytimaki, Jari; McCallum, Cathryn; Mononen, Tuija; Nevalainen, Jouni; Peltonen, Lasse; Ranta, Jukka-Pekka; Ruiz, Stephane; Russill, Jon; Wagner, Frank (2022-04-27)
Renn O, Gloaguen R, Benighaus C, Ajjabou L, Benighaus L, Del Rio V, Gómez J, Kauppi S, Keßelring M, Kirsch M, Komac M, Kotilainen J, Kozlovskaya E, Lyytimaki J, McCallum C, Mononen T, Nevalainen J, Peltonen L, Ranta J-, Ruiz S, Russill J and Wagner F (2022) Metal Sourcing For a Sustainable Future. Earth Sci. Syst. Soc. 2:10049. doi: 10.3389/esss.2022.10049
© 2022 Renn, Gloaguen, Benighaus, Ajjabou, Benighaus, Del Rio, Gómez, Kauppi, Keßelring, Kirsch, Komac, Kotilainen, Kozlovskaya, Lyytimaki, McCallum, Mononen, Nevalainen, Peltonen, Ranta, Ruiz, Russill and Wagner. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi-fe2022050332163
Tiivistelmä
Abstract
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.
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