UN
Climate Change
Global
Climate Action
16
February
2021 | |
It’s long
been seen as one of the hardest sectors to
decarbonize. On the one hand zero-carbon
alternatives for metals and mining are still in
the early development stages; on the other hand
production of minerals such as graphite, lithium
and cobalt could rise by nearly 500 percent by
2050 with the boom in batteries, solar panels
and other tech, according to the World
Bank.
And yet the
system transformation is clearly underway here,
too - driven by both the supply and demand sides
of the industry. Leading miners and metals
manufacturers have recently expressed ambition
to reach net-zero emissions by 2050 or sooner,
including Anglo
American, BHP, Glencore, Rio
Tinto,
Vale and China
Baowu Steel.
Expressing the goal is a significant first step.
To remain credible, it must next be backed up
with firm commitments and science-based plans
for getting there.
These come as
customers are increasingly demanding a shift to
climate-smart minerals and metals. Car companies
including General
Motors,
Ford
Motor Company,
BMW and Daimler have set targets for
all-electric sales and zero-emission vehicles
within three decades. Steel buyers and
specifiers in construction, renewables and other
sectors have formed the SteelZero initiative, supported by the
Climate Group, to push for net-zero steel by
2050. Hauliers, consumer goods companies and
others created the European
Clean Trucking Alliance for zero-emission
trucks by 2050.
This
corporate demand adds to the pressure from
national and local policymakers. The UK will ban
diesel and petrol cars from 2030, California
from 2035, and cities
around the world are joining forces to
halve emissions this decade.
The
foundation is set. Creating the right political
and financial environment can help metals and
mining companies accelerate the shift to clean
technologies and energy sources - including by
removing fossil fuel subsidies and supporting
higher carbon prices. A price of over US$100 per
tonne by 2030 would underpin the business case
for products like low-carbon steel in
harder-to-abate sectors, according to the
Mission
Possible Partnership.
Affordable
renewable electricity and green hydrogen
development will also be key for
energy-intensive operations. BHP aims to replace
coal-fired power at two large copper mines in
Chile with 100 percent renewables by the
mid-2020s. The Green
Hydrogen Catapult,
launched in December with green hydrogen project
developers and partners, is working to deploy 25
gigawatts through 2026 to decarbonize sectors
like long-haul shipping. South
Korea’s POSCO and Australia’s Fortescue
have joined forces to develop renewables-based
hydrogen, and Sweden’s LKAB
will use it to produce CO2-free iron ore by
2045.
The
challenge, as always, is to make this a globally
inclusive, all-of-society transformation - and
that means bringing artisanal miners and rare
earths processors along for a just transition to
sustainability and respecting human rights,
too. | |
Climate Action Saves
Lives | |
The research
continues to mount: pollution is cutting our
lives short, and climate action will save lives.
Two reports out this month add depth to those
two realities.
More than 8
million people around the world died prematurely
in 2018 as a result of air pollution from coal,
oil and gas - many more than previously thought,
researchers in the US and UK
found. That’s
just under one in five global deaths that year.
The northeast US, Europe and Southeast Asia were
the worst hit.
Yet if nine
large economies - Brazil, China, Germany, India,
Indonesia, Nigeria, South Africa, the UK and US
- brought their Nationally Determined
Contributions in line with the Paris Agreement’s
goals, they would save some 10 million lives per
year by 2040, from cleaner air, increased
exercise and better diets, according to the
Lancet
Planetary Health.
| |
- Welcome, Mike! Michael
Bloomberg,
that is. The UN special envoy for climate
ambition and solutions is now the first Global
Ambassador for the Race to Zero and Race to
Resilience.
- Solar
power in India
is
on the cusp of explosive growth, matching the
share of coal in the power mix within two
decades or less, the International Energy Agency
says.
- Companies face up to
US$120
billion in costs from environmental
risks in their supply chains within the next
five years, including increased costs of
manufacturing; food, beverage and agriculture;
and power generation, CDP found.
- Carbon Tracker and
Global Energy Monitor are developing the world’s
first Global
Registry of Fossil Fuels - a public database of
all fossil fuels in the ground and in
production.
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