Australia has signed up as a founding member of the Canada-led sustainable vital minerals coalition.
Launched on the sidelines of the United Nations biodiversity convention COP15 in Montreal, the worldwide grouping has pledged to fulfill the “highest” environmental, social and governance (ESG) requirements for mining and processing vital minerals.
As superior economies attempt to break China’s stranglehold on provide, different signatories to the pact embrace the United Kingdom, France, Germany and the United States.
Australia has plentiful reserves of the minerals wanted for photo voltaic panels, wind generators and electrical car batteries – important tools for decarbonising industries and communities and assembly emissions discount pledges.
The Minister for Resources and Northern Australia, Madeleine King, stated it was necessary these minerals are developed to excessive ESG requirements.
“Australia is strongly committed to sustainability and the highest environmental and social governance standards,” Ms King stated.
“We believe the development of new low-emissions technologies provides a great opportunity to promote those ESG standards across the world.”
A extra resource-intensive international economic system would require extra lithium, copper, nickel, cobalt and different power transition supplies, however Australia faces vital competitors for the capital wanted.
Better human rights and environmental requirements than China, Africa and South America are a part of the pitch.
Members of the group have dedicated to a spread of voluntary practices, together with a “nature-forward approach” to stop biodiversity loss, shield species in danger and help nature safety.
Signatories say extra reuse and recycling of vital minerals, growing a so-called “circular economy”, might scale back the variety of new mines to provide the minerals wanted.
Adopting new necessities for reclamation and remediation when mines shut goals to revive ecosystems, though there may be debate about returning a website to a “natural state” some 50 or 100 years after operations started.
Helping to battle local weather change by decreasing greenhouse gasoline emissions and getting the mining business to web zero by 2050 is essential to the pact.
Signatories additionally pledged to help native and indigenous communities, and to share the advantages of mining.
