Some of the world's top mining companies have pledged to reach net-zero direct and indirect carbon emissions by 2050 or before, according to the International Council on Mining and Metals (ICMM).
Solar panels at Gold Field’s Granny Smith Mine, Western Australia. Photo: Gold Fields
Solar panels at Gold Field’s Granny Smith Mine in Western Australia. Photo: Gold Fields
An open letter written by ICMM CEO Rohitesh Dhawan and signed by the CEOs and presidents of 28 of the world's largest miners including Rio Tinto, Glencore and Anglo American, said that the companies agreed to "collectively commit as members of the International Council on Mining and Metals (ICMM) to a goal of net-zero Scope 1 and 2 greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 or sooner in line with the ambitions of the Paris Agreement."
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Scope 1 emissions relate to direct emissions, coming from owned or controlled sources, and Scope 2 covers indirect emissions from the generation of purchased energy, heat or cooling.
The letter also pledged to "accelerate action on Scope 3 emissions", saying that a target would be set "if not by the end of 2023, as soon as possible". Scope 3 covers all other indirect emissions occurring all along a company's value chain, such as customers processing iron ore to steel.
The technologies for "green steel" are mostly still at the pilot stage at present, such as the HYBRIT and H2GS plants in Sweden, and the HYFOR plant in Austria.
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The ICMM pledge comes just a few weeks before the start of COP26, the UN climate summit being held in Glasgow, Scotland. The summit will see representatives from the almost 200 countries that signed the 2015 Paris Climate Agreement to limit global warming.
Many mining companies, under intense pressure from climate activists, investors and shareholders, have already made individual commitments to a 2050 net-zero emission target.
Nonetheless, the ICMM agreement is the largest collective pledge of its kind so far, and "represents a joint ambition from companies that make up one-third of the global mining and metals industry," the letter said.
The ICMM has 28 members and covers 650 sites across more than 50 countries.
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Bringing down both direct and indirect emissions in the sector will be achieved partly through accelerating the use of ios renewable energy sources and lowering or completely stopping the use of diesel trucks, Dhawan was quoted by Reuters as saying.
He added that ICMM members have collectively reduced emissions by 6% from 2016 to 2018.
- Read the full text of the open letter and the complete list of signatories.
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