Australia has joined an international coalition to commit to long-term sustainability and the highest environmental, social, and governance (ESG) standards in the mining and processing of critical minerals, which are required for low-emissions technology.
Australia has joined the Sustainable Critical Minerals Coalition, a Canadian-led project to promote environmentally and socially responsible mining practices in the critical minerals sector. Canada, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, and the United States will also sign.
Australia has large quantities of critical minerals, such as rare earths, which are required by clean technologies such as solar panels, wind turbines, and electric car batteries.
According to Minister for Resources and Northern Australia Madeleine King, mining and processing critical minerals are critical to helping the world reduce emissions, and those resources must be developed to high ESG standards.
“Australia is strongly committed to sustainability and the highest environmental and social governance standards, and we believe the development of new low-emissions technologies provides a great opportunity to promote those ESG standards across the world,” Minister King said.
Minister King stated that Australia applauds Canada for taking the initiative and Australia is pleased to join the Sustainable Critical Minerals Coalition as founding members.
Members of the group agree to work for free to produce and utilise critical minerals that:
- Use a nature-first strategy by cooperating with industry on practices that avoid biodiversity loss, protect endangered species, and support nature conservation, including striving towards net-positive benefits to the natural environment;
- Support local and Indigenous communities through fostering safe working conditions and responsible labour standards, diverse and inclusive workforces, Indigenous and local community benefits, and honouring the rights of local and Indigenous peoples;
- Contribute to the battle against climate change by lowering greenhouse gas emissions and working towards net-zero emissions by 2050 by encouraging net-zero mining methods;
- Restore ecosystems by enacting reclamation and cleanup standards to close and return mine sites to their natural state, as well as holding responsible companies liable for environmental damage; and
- Create a circular economy by increasing the reuse and recycling of critical minerals, which may reduce the number of new mines required to supply the minerals.
The Sustainable Critical Minerals Coalition was established on 12 December 2022, in Montréal, in conjunction with the UN Biodiversity Conference (COP15).
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