Environmental technologies can help mining companies navigate the new GRI sustainability standard

As we move towards net-zero, the vital role of the mining industry is becoming increasingly apparent. The sector must simultaneously increase production of minerals to sustain decarbonization and reduce its environmental impacts. Despite this difficult position, new biodiversity monitoring technologies are proving to be useful tools to tackle this challenge.

Mining plays a key role in the transition to net-zero because its products are central to the production of clean energy and technology. The International Energy Agency (IEA) has suggested that mineral inputs must increase by fourfold to meet the goals of the Paris Agreement. But the time from discovery to commercial extraction will still take some companies 16 years. Closing this gap will be vital to meet decarbonization goals.

Historically, some mining operations have contributed to environmental degradation through issues like contamination and pollution of local ecosystems. This is especially relevant given that 20% of existing mines are biodiversity hotspots, as tracked by the MSCI ACWI Investable Market Index (IMI). As a result, an accurate assessment of the impact of existing and future mines on the environment is crucial.

The Earth’s biodiversity remains our greatest asset, not only acting as “our strongest natural defence against climate change,” according to the U.N., but as a fundamental means to our global economy. More than 50% of global GDP is moderately or highly dependent on nature as estimated by the World Economic Forum. Thus, adopting sustainable practices is not only sensible for businesses from an environmental perspective, but also necessary from a profitability standpoint. Today, risking nature poses an economic risk, with four of the top five threats to business in the next 10 years being environment related.

In Canada, where half of the world’s publicly listed mining companies are based, the minerals and metals sector represents 4% of the country’s gross domestic product (GDP) with a value of $91 billion in 2021. Protecting this GDP from nature-related risk is vital, and initiatives led by the Canadian government such as the 2022 Critical Minerals Strategy reflect this need.

New standards within mining

Beyond governmental initiatives that aim to regulate the mining industry, there are other independent bodies that influence the sector. In early Feb. 2024, the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) launched its landmark “Sustainability Standard for the Mining and Extractives Sectors.” This standard aims to guide mining organisations through their difficult positions of providing essential minerals for modern society while actively working to lessen the impact of their activities on the environment and local communities.

This is a pivotal moment for the industry and a welcome development for many stakeholders, offering a robust framework for reporting on ESG impacts that will elevate accountability and transparency practices. Successful navigation of the standards will aid companies in managing stakeholder relationships and building trust to make the industry more resilient to nature-related risk. As Carol Adams, chair of the GRI’s Global Sustainability Standards Board (GSSB), has said, “From a sustainability standpoint, the position of mining is complex, in that it is both part of the solution and the problem.”

The new GRI standard provides reporting guidance for the transparent sharing of certain material topics such as preserving biodiversity and engaging communities. However, to implement the sustainability reporting that the GRI standardizes, companies must establish a baseline for natural capital at a site level. Through this assessment, nature can be brought into the value chain, allowing mining companies to assess the impact of activity and ultimately limit nature-related risks.

However, because of the variety of nature data that can be collected and analyzed, it can be unclear which measurements are best placed to give an accurate picture of the state of biodiversity. The GRI standards aim to provide guidance and metrics to aid in the ability of mining companies to have a comprehensive understanding of reporting needs. Importantly, the GRI emphasizes the need for data to be reliable and reproducible if possible and provides examples to further support the industry.

In January, Rohitesh Dhawan, president and CEO of the International Council on Mining and Metals (ICMM) announced adherence to the biodiversity-preserving commitments set by the Taskforce on Nature-related Financial Disclosures (TNFD) at a Nature Positive Initiative event in Davos. In this context, the announcement of the Global Sustainability Standards for the mining sector has not come as a surprise. It has simply reinforced the difficult position the mining industry is in to maintain regular activity whilst adhering to the latest biodiversity regulations required to halt and reverse nature loss by 2030.

Nature-based solutions

Currently, companies are held back by the lack of specialist knowledge, scalable solutions, and the data-gap in biodiversity monitoring. Fortunately, technologies, such as environmental DNA (eDNA) have enabled companies to measure nature in an accurate, cost-efficient manner, and on a large scale. While the technology is cutting edge in terms of its transformational impact on biodiversity monitoring, it has been used for over a decade, and is well-established and thoroughly vetted. In the GRI 101: Biodiversity 2024 guidance document, eDNA is listed as a primary data method for reporting on biodiversity.

Small traces of DNA left behind by living organisms can be captured from environmental samples and used to survey single species or whole communities. Surveyance of eDNA allows mining companies to identify at-risk, invasive, or protected species, along wider biological groups in the site of interest. These analyses of eDNA can also be utilized to set a baseline from which they can monitor nature restoration progress over time.

The simplicity of eDNA methodology is highlighted in one way by the ease of sample collection, which is frequently done as a citizen science project and aids in community engagement. This adheres to the new GRI standard that emphasizes community engagement as part of reporting. In many projects, community members or students in local schools can get involved, so this technology enables community engagement, one of the new requirements mining companies should take part in as per the latest GRI standard. This enables companies to not only contextualize biodiversity data to report back to stakeholders, but also to actively involve local communities, granting social licence to operate.

The combination of this eDNA technology and other nature intelligence technologies aimed at capturing nature’s complexity, such as geographic information systems (GIS), bioacoustics, and drones, is enabling businesses to gain a clear picture of biodiversity at any given time and location. Many companies, including Anglo American, Sínese, and Rio Tinto have already used these technologies to support their drive to nature-positivity through an understanding of the biological risks of their business’ activities.

It is hugely promising to see how these technological innovations can help the mining industry further its sustainability and nature goals. The adoption of the GRI Sustainability Standards will help the mining industry fulfill the environmental reporting valued by regulators, stakeholders, and the public. The rapid scaling and deployment of technologies such as eDNA will be the key to improve due diligence, producing transparent environmental assessments, and enable mining companies to engage with local communities, easing the pressure of regulators and the public on the sector.

Rachel Mador-House is an environmental geneticist with over 15 years of experience. She now utilizes her extensive molecular genetics knowledge to further biodiversity monitoring at NatureMetrics as the head of scientific affairs for North America.

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