Decarbonization of the Mining Sector

Table of Contents

• 1.0 Background and Objectives 8
• 1.1 Introduction 8
• 1.2 Objective, Structure, and Methodology of the Scoping Study 9
• 2.0 The Road to Decarbonization: International commitments and national actions 11
• 2.1 Background: The Paris Climate Agreement and NDCs 12
• 2.2 National Policies and Strategies 14
• 3.0 State of Play of the Mining Sector and the Energy Transition 16
• 3.1 The Mining Sector Is Key to the Energy Transition 16
• 3.2 Where Do GHG Emissions From the Mining Sector Come From? 18
• 3.3 Factors Impacting GHG Emissions in the Mining Sector 19
• 3.4 Coal Mining: A sector at the “losing end” of the energy transition? 21
• 3.5 Implications for Producing Countries of Global Demand Shifts 23
• 3.6 Challenges and Policy Choices in Selected Countries 24
• 4.0 Decarbonization Commitments and Action From the Mining Industry 26
• 4.1 Voluntary Disclosure 27
• 4.2 Legal Reporting Requirements 28
• 4.3 International Transparency Initiatives 28
• 4.4 Decarbonization as a Corporate Communication Tool 29
• 5.0 Conclusion and Policy Recommendations 30
• 5.1 Quality Data Is Key for Informed Decision Making on Climate Action and to Monitor and Assess Policy Performance 31
• 5.2 Incentivizing (Local) Businesses to Decarbonize Requires a Mining Sector-Specific Approach as Part of the Government Climate Mitigation Policy 32
• 5.3 Adaptation and Mitigation: Interlinked strategies shaped by the Energy Transition 33
• 5.4 Leveraging International Paris Climate Agreement Plans and Ambitions 34
• 5.5 Domestic Government Policy Mitigation Efforts: Balancing the benefits and challenges of decarbonization 35
• 5.6 Energy Transition Benefits and Challenges Require New Models of “Shared Responsibility” Between Producing and Destination Countries 36
• 5.7 The Role of Businesses in Climate Mitigation 38
• 6.0 Conclusion 40
• References 41
• Appendix A. Standardizing Greenhouse Gas Emissions Information Across Governments and Industries: Greenhouse gas emissions inventories in NDCs 46
• Appendix B. Understanding Greenhouse Gas Emissions in Mineral Value Chains: Scope of emissions 50
• Appendix C. Greenhouse Gas Emissions Reduction Target Setting for Companies: Science-Based Targets initiative 52
• Appendix D. Comparing Greenhouse Gas emissions and CO2e emissions from energy in Chile, Indonesia, and South Africa (2006 and 2020) 53
• Appendix E. Summary of Climate Targets as per Latest Nationally Determined Contributions, Compared to Mining Sector-Specific Targets Under Domestic Policies for Chile, South Africa, and Indonesia 54
• Appendix F. Company Case Study on PT Vale Indonesia: Decarbonization and innovative collaborations in nickel supply chains 56
• Figure 1. Minerals used in selected clean energy technologies 17
• Figure 2. Total demand for copper, cobalt, and nickel by end-use in a net-zero scenario 17
• Figure 3. Average GHG emissions intensity for production of selected commodities 19
• Figure A1. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change: Energy Category 47
• Figure A2. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change: Industrial products and product use category 48
• Figure B1. Overview of scopes and emissions across a value chain 51
• Table 1. Policy recommendations: Data quality 31
• Table 2. Policy recommendations: Sector-specific policies toward local businesses 33
• Table 3. Policy recommendations: Adaptation and mitigation strategies 34
• Table 4. Policy recommendations: Leverage NDCs to informal national policies 35
• Table 5. Policy recommendations: Balancing benefits and challenges of decarbonization 36
• Table 6. Policy recommendations: Relationships between producing and destination countries 37
• Table 7. Policy recommendations: Role of the private sector 39
• Table D1. Comparative table of GHG emissions and CO2e emissions from energy by Chile, Indonesia, and South Africa for 2006 and 2020 53
• Table E1. Chile: GHG emissions reduction targets according to last nationally determined contribution (NDC) 54
• Table E2. Indonesia: GHG emissions reduction targets according to last NDC 55
• Table E3. South Africa: GHG emissions reduction targets according to last NDC 55