Nadia Aurisch

Presentation 

Context- based sustainability for the mining sector

What's stopping mining from becoming the new fossil fuels? - A case for authentic sustainability in approvals and reporting 

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Development over the last century has led to increased economic growth, better health outcomes and large reductions in poverty.

However, these positive impacts have largely occurred at the expense of the natural environment*. This has largely been because value has only been given to the environment when it can be exploited as a resource and not for the goods and services it provides, even though human life and the development of capital resources, are dependent on the provision of those goods and services. As a result, this approach to development is not sustainable. 

The idea of sustainable development has been around for centuries however the 1987 Brundtland Report brought it front of mind for governments around the world, defining sustainability/sustainable development as “meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.”. From an environmental perspective, this means understanding and operating within ecological thresholds.

These thresholds describe the receiving environment’s capacity to absorb a threat prior to a tipping point (some form of ecosystem change) occurring, beyond which its ability to naturally repair itself is compromised, such as what nutrient loading a section of river can withstand before it goes green and the fish die.

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Or how much CO2 can be added to the atmosphere before the temperature exceeds 1°C or 1.5°C or 2°C. Collectively, progress towards the most important of these thresholds is reflected in the planetary boundaries (Rockstrom, Steffen et.al., 2009). 

Whilst there is no doubt that an immediate reduction in the combustion of fossil fuels is essential for sustaining earth’s biophysical systems, transition away from fossil fuels doesn’t mean that our environmental problems are solved.

The huge amounts of energy and materials previously supplied by fossil fuels will need to be replaced by something else and mining will play a key role in this, with large increases in raw materials needed to support the transition. Whilst the transition to a low carbon economy has the potential to allow our exceedance of some planetary boundaries to recede, it is unclear how other boundaries may be affected by the large-scale uptake of low carbon technology, particularly if projects are not developed with consideration to ecological thresholds. 

What can be done? Mining can play a key role in sustainable development by understanding and applying ecological thresholds, particularly in impact assessments, environmental approvals and corporate reporting. Mining can also take the lead on the use of ecological thresholds; changing the narrative from being perceived as a restriction, to a consistently and appropriately used element of responsible environmental management.

This is not to say that unsustainable developments and projects can’t be implemented (as they may well be during a disorderly transition), but society should at the very least understand at what environmental cost these project impose and how this cost this justified. 

As you decarbonise, how can you consider ecological thresholds in your approach?

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*Development has also occurred at the expense of many other areas, including indigenous and human rights, so social thresholds should be considered in the same manner as ecological thresholds. This abstract focuses on ecological thresholds only. ​