Responsible or reckless? A critical review of the environmental and climate assessments of mineral supply chains
This paper critically reviews and identifies gaps in the methodologies used to analyze the environmental impacts of mineral and metal global supply chains. Of specific focus are assessments of the extraction and production of minerals and metals needed for a low-carbon energy future. Current trends...
| Main Authors: | , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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IOP Publishing
2020-01-01
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| Series: | Environmental Research Letters |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/ab9f8c |
| _version_ | 1797747851929845760 |
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| author | Jordy Lee Morgan Bazilian B Sovacool S Greene |
| author_facet | Jordy Lee Morgan Bazilian B Sovacool S Greene |
| author_sort | Jordy Lee |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | This paper critically reviews and identifies gaps in the methodologies used to analyze the environmental impacts of mineral and metal global supply chains. Of specific focus are assessments of the extraction and production of minerals and metals needed for a low-carbon energy future. Current trends and projections suggest that the future low-carbon energy system will have greater material needs than the current one. Thus, it is important to better understand the full impacts of increased resource extraction to help ensure a sustainable and just transition. This review reveals that existing methodologies are currently insufficient in capturing the full suite of environmental, social, and governance concerns. The copper supply chain is used as a case study to highlight areas that require refined or augmented methodologies, with an in-depth examination of the corporate practices of Freeport-McMoRan, Vale, and BHP. Together, this review of existing methodologies and examples from the copper supply chain highlight the incomplete and variable nature of environmental and climate reporting within the mining industry. Areas for future work are defined with the goal of advancing accounting frameworks for the mining industry and the associated supply chain. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-12T15:56:34Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-446f7a43b7ef4e53b65a6dff444f8554 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1748-9326 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-12T15:56:34Z |
| publishDate | 2020-01-01 |
| publisher | IOP Publishing |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Environmental Research Letters |
| spelling | doaj.art-446f7a43b7ef4e53b65a6dff444f85542023-08-09T14:52:54ZengIOP PublishingEnvironmental Research Letters1748-93262020-01-01151010300910.1088/1748-9326/ab9f8cResponsible or reckless? A critical review of the environmental and climate assessments of mineral supply chainsJordy Lee0Morgan Bazilian1https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1650-8071B Sovacool2https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4794-9403S Greene3https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1234-4906The Payne Institute for Public Policy, Colorado School of Mines , 816 15th St. Golden, CO, United States of America; Author to whom any correspondence should be addressed.The Payne Institute for Public Policy, Colorado School of Mines , 816 15th St. Golden, CO, United States of America; Author to whom any correspondence should be addressed.University of Sussex Business School , Jubilee Building, 9SL, Falmer, Brighton, United KingdomCenter for Transportation & Logistics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology , 77 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, MA, United States of AmericaThis paper critically reviews and identifies gaps in the methodologies used to analyze the environmental impacts of mineral and metal global supply chains. Of specific focus are assessments of the extraction and production of minerals and metals needed for a low-carbon energy future. Current trends and projections suggest that the future low-carbon energy system will have greater material needs than the current one. Thus, it is important to better understand the full impacts of increased resource extraction to help ensure a sustainable and just transition. This review reveals that existing methodologies are currently insufficient in capturing the full suite of environmental, social, and governance concerns. The copper supply chain is used as a case study to highlight areas that require refined or augmented methodologies, with an in-depth examination of the corporate practices of Freeport-McMoRan, Vale, and BHP. Together, this review of existing methodologies and examples from the copper supply chain highlight the incomplete and variable nature of environmental and climate reporting within the mining industry. Areas for future work are defined with the goal of advancing accounting frameworks for the mining industry and the associated supply chain.https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/ab9f8cdecarbonization pathwaysenvironmental impactssustainabilitymineral supply chainscritical materials security |
| spellingShingle | Jordy Lee Morgan Bazilian B Sovacool S Greene Responsible or reckless? A critical review of the environmental and climate assessments of mineral supply chains Environmental Research Letters decarbonization pathways environmental impacts sustainability mineral supply chains critical materials security |
| title | Responsible or reckless? A critical review of the environmental and climate assessments of mineral supply chains |
| title_full | Responsible or reckless? A critical review of the environmental and climate assessments of mineral supply chains |
| title_fullStr | Responsible or reckless? A critical review of the environmental and climate assessments of mineral supply chains |
| title_full_unstemmed | Responsible or reckless? A critical review of the environmental and climate assessments of mineral supply chains |
| title_short | Responsible or reckless? A critical review of the environmental and climate assessments of mineral supply chains |
| title_sort | responsible or reckless a critical review of the environmental and climate assessments of mineral supply chains |
| topic | decarbonization pathways environmental impacts sustainability mineral supply chains critical materials security |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/ab9f8c |
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