TIM July Newsletter 2024
Mining's nature dependency
In March 2020, I wrote an article on how the mining industry could, and should, mainstream biodiversity with the ICMM’s Hafren Williams. One fact, from my research has stuck with me to this day: that biodiversity risks have a higher likelihood and potentially a greater detrimental impact on society than failures of national governance, food crises and the spread of infectious diseases.
I challenge you to read that statement again and think about the magnitude of what that could entail. At the time of writing, I was, like most of you, locked down at home, watching the death toll from the Covid-19 pandemic tick upwards, and the potential implications felt chilling and suddenly very real.
I came away from that conversation knowing that nature and its valuation would be huge topics for the mining industry in the coming years. Fast forward to 2024, and the ICMM has just laid out a strong mission statement on nature. A few days ago, the Taskforce on Nature-related Financial Disclosures (TNFD) published extra guidance for the mining and metals sector on how to apply its LEAP approach (announced in 2023). In April 2024, the International Sustainability Standards Board (ISSB) stated it would “commence projects to research disclosure about risks and opportunities associated with biodiversity, ecosystems and ecosystem services”. And the list goes on.
The truth is that, while miners have long understood that nature is important to their businesses, they’ve never before been required to quantify and disclose their impacts in this way or to this level. While many will have seen this coming - and don’t get me wrong, the enhanced scrutiny can only be a good thing - even for companies that are well versed in measuring and managing their impacts on the natural world, shit just got real.
It will be interesting to see whether the industry can rise to this challenge and lift the collective bar quickly. This is a rare chance to shine, and we need to grab it with both hands. For our own sakes, as well as that of the planet.
As you may have already gathered, environmental stewardship is The Intelligent Miner’s July editorial theme, so you can look forward to many more musings on this subject. Send me your own too. And remember, I’ll be taking my annual break during August, so the newsletter will be back the first week in September.
Until then, have a great summer/winter.
Carly
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Eight articles on environmental stewardship to inspire you
Why Africa: What are biocredits?
This article explains biocredits as tradeable units of biodiversity that incentivise nature conservation and restoration, benefiting marginalised groups and complementing carbon credits as a distinct asset class
Levin Sources: How to bring about forest-smart mining
This report, developed by the World Bank's PROFOR Trust Fund and other partners, investigates the impacts of mining on forests and provides recommendations for promoting forest-smart mining practices
ICMM: A little thought goes a long way in restoring nature
A case study... Hydro's Paragominas mine in the Amazon restores mined land sustainably, using tailings dry backfilling to match each disturbed hectare with a restored one
De Beers Group: De Beers Group invests in kelp forests to lock away CO2
Nature-based solution at its finest. De Beers Group has invested $2 million in start up, Kelp Blue, to sequester carbon and boost biodiversity. This supports De Beers' carbon-neutral goal by 2030 and promotes sustainable development in Namibia
BHP Insights: Mining companies can measure and value nature, this is how
BHP's VP Environment, Mischa Traynor, explains how mining companies can use natural capital accounts (NCA) to measure, value, and manage their environmental footprint, enhancing biodiversity conservation and socio-economic outcomes
Sustainable Minerals Institute UQ: Mitigating mine water legacies through interdisciplinary approaches
Professor Nadja Kunz presents a tool to measure the impacts of tailings storage failures and discusses innovations to mitigate mining legacies at the JKMRC seminar
TNFD: When the bee stings
A BloombergNEF study revealing how nature-related risks have caused significant financial losses for companies, including miners, impacting stock prices, executive positions, brand values, and credit ratings
CIM Magazine: From tailings to soil
An article written by Alice Martin, explains a new method developed by researchers at the University of Queensland that uses microbes to convert iron-ore tailings into healthy soil, significantly speeding up the natural weathering process and offering a cost-effective solution for mine waste reclamation