Hermosillo, Mexico: International Journalist and syndicated columnist Rebecca Theodore have made the plea for mining to be implemented on the United Nations Sustainability Development Agenda.
Last week’s Discoveries Mining International Conference in Hermosillo, Mexico, Theodore stated that it is time to spark dialogues on mining, promote collaboration, and jointly carve a path toward a more technological, sustainable future.
In her presentation paper called: Mining Of The Future –The Challenges and Opportunities of the United Nations Sustainable Goal # 9, Theodore elaborated on the point that while the government of Canada is signing agreements with Volkswagen and Mercedes Benz to access Canadian raw materials for batteries in electric vehicles, the focus should also be on clean, sustainable reliable materials that won’t run out in the next decade.
She reiterated that electric cars need lithium, nickel, and cobalt. Nuclear energy cannot function without uranium. Wind turbines and solar panels cannot work without copper, iron, and zinc, and that steel making cannot function without coal.
This means that there must be an increase in demand for raw materials such as cobalt, lithium, graphite, manganese, and copper, as mining provides most of the needed minerals for an electric-driven world.
Consequently, Theodore believes that now is the ideal time to develop a green solution to the future needs of total electrification and the mining industry.
Theodore also called for building dialogues around mining’s contributions to the United Nations Sustainable Development Agenda to engage in interviews on what large-scale, junior mining companies are currently doing to integrate Sustainable Development Goal # 9 into their business strategies.
But she also warned that although mining now provides tremendous opportunities for global technology and manufacturers across the value chain, the mining industry must also begin doing things environmentally and sustainably.
In conclusion, she stated that if there is a greener future towards the 2030 United Nations sustainable agenda deadline, mining must also play a significant role in the green tech revolution to balance productivity improvements with sustainability goals.
By building constructive partnerships with governments, parallel industries, civil society, academia, the media, and all captains of industry, the mining industry must also begin to help the world meet global climate goals as a condition of sustainable development in a post covid world.
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