SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT: What Does it Mean to the Mining Industry – A Summary of U.S. Activity Deborah J. Shields USDA Forest Service - Research.

SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT: What Does it Mean to the Mining Industry – A

Summary of U.S. Activity

Deborah J. Shields

USDA Forest Service - Research

What is sustainable development ?

Sustainable development is:

·a concept of needs;

·an idea of limitations;·a future oriented paradigm; and ·a process of change.

There is no single definition and no single perspective on SD; between 1979 and 2001, over 300 definitions have been identified. In almost all cases, definitions are based on the three dimensions, or bottom lines, of SD - economic, environmental and social.

economy

environment society

sustainable development

SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT IS:

development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations

to meet their own needs

Sustainable development is often described in terms of wealth, capital or endowments. The types of capital are:

• Natural Capital: Traditional natural resources, as well as

natural assets that are not easily valued monetarily.• Human-Made Capital: physical, produced assets that are

easily assigned monetary value and sold in markets. • Human Capital : generally refers to the health, well-being,

and productivity potential of a society. • Social Capital : is related to human well-being, but on a

societal rather than individual level.

SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT IS:

the process by which societies transform economic, environmental, and social capital and capacities in ways that yield constant or increasing opportunities

for satisfying human needs and wants generation after generation.

Progress towards the goal of Sustainable Development can be described in terms of principles,

criteria and indicators.

Indicators of Sustainability

Goals

Principles

Criteria

Indicators

Verifiers

The overarching, strategic Goal is sustainability.

A Principle is a fundamental truth, law or ideal that can be used as the basis of reasoning or action.

Criteria describe what it means to be sustainable. They represent aspects of a system.

An Indicator is a qualitative or quantitative parameter of a system that can be assessed in relation to the criteria.

Applying the concepts of sustainable development to

energy and mineral resources in not an oxymoron.

Energy and Mineral Resources

are Integral Components of

Economic, Social, and

Environmental Systems.

A Comprehensive Set of Criteria

and Indicators for Nonrenewable

Resources are needed.

The Strategy for

Incorporating Nonrenewable Resources in

Sustainable Resource Management

C&I CERTIFICATIONIntergovernmental commitments International

I to principles, criteria and indicators of certification principlessustainable resource management and standards(UNCED. Helsinki/Montreal C&I)

National criteria National andand indicators sub-national Certifiers’ own(Refinement of Helsinki/Montreal C&I) level standards standards

Policy Instruments:legislation, rules and regulations, incentives

Performance targets and Local-level assessmentstandards at management standards (ecosystem orunit / compartment level commodity, management unit)

Resource Management

Internal standards of the resource unit

II

I: International Consensus on Principles of Sustainability for

Nonrenewable Resources

International Fora

• UN CSD• International Study Groups• CAMMA• MMSD

II: National Scale C&I of Sustainability for Nonrenewable

Resources

Sustainable Minerals Roundtable

• Criteria & Indicators

• First Approximation Report

Need for Parallel Efforts

• Information Flow

• Linkage versus Control

• International Demand and an International Nonrenewable Resources Industry

Sustainable Minerals Roundtable: History

In June of 1999, the US Forest Service invited stakeholders from Federal agencies, Tribes, industry, nongovernmental organizations and academia to a meeting in Washington, D.C.

Sustainable Minerals Roundtable: History

The purpose of this meeting was to:

•Provide background information on sustainability;

•Discuss how to extend the Montreal Process C&I to energy and mineral resources;

•Assess interest in forming a Roundtable to share information on energy and minerals sustainability.

Sustainable Minerals Roundtable: History

Based on feedback from participants at this meeting, the Sustainable Minerals Roundtable was formed.

Sustainable Minerals Roundtable: History

Activities to date have included introductions to and reviews of: •Sustainability concepts for renewable and nonrenewable resources;

•Montreal Process;

•WRI material flow work;

•Indicator theory;

•Canadian experience with C&I;

•Scale issues in indicators;

•MERN;

•Mining in Alaska;

•other related activities.

TIMELINE 1. Legal commitment to publish report on state of the land (USDA, USDOI, USDOE, etc. report) by 2003.

2. Compilation of available data for selected indicators, and assessment of how difficult (privacy, cost) it will be to obtain this information should be generated by 2002. First approximation report.

3. Draft indicator set by end of 2001 (list of indicator names w/ no data).

Sustainable Minerals Roundtable: Vision

We envision a future in which the capacities of mineral/material and energy systems meet the demands of current and later generations, while maintaining or enhancing the environmental, social, and economic systems in the U.S. and the world.

Sustainable Minerals Roundtable: Mission

The Mission of the Roundtable is to support the nation’s commitment to sustainable development. The Roundtable will develop indicators of sustainability, based on social, economic, and environmental factors, to provide a means for assessing the status and trends of minerals/materials and energy systems

Guiding Principles • Develop indicators that will be suitable

nationwide.• Operate within a framework of Criteria.• Acknowledge and utilize as appropriate,

other indicator initiatives.• Encourage open, consensus-seeking

collaboration by government, Tribal governments, non-governmental organizations, industry, academia, and other stakeholders.

Guiding Principles - cont. • Use neutral wording.• Avoid selecting or not selecting measures

with the intent of predetermining the results. • Adopt the definition of sustainable

development by the Brundtland Commission: development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.

• Measure the effects on economic, environmental, and social systems.

Guiding Principles - cont. • Mineral/material and energy systems contribute to

sustainable development by finding, extracting, producing, adding value to, using, re-using and recycling mineral/material and energy products in the most efficient manner possible, while respecting the needs and values of other resource users and maintaining and/or enhancing environmental quality for present and future generations. Realizing this goal requires a consideration of intra- and inter-generational equity, mineral consumption and depletion, among other issues.

Sustainable Minerals Roundtable Criteria

A. Conservation of biological diversity (to be addressed by the Forest and Rangeland Sustainability Roundtables)

B. Maintenance of capacities to produce commodities

B1. Mineral/material and energy systems (including life cycles and recycling and reuse).

B2. Ecosystems (e.g. timber and forage). (to be addressed by the Forest and Rangeland Sustainability Roundtables)

C. Maintenance of ecosystem health (forest, range, and aquatic). (to be addressed by the Forest, Rangeland and Water Roundtables)

D. Conservation and maintenance of air, soil, water (quality and quantity) and physical geology (including quality, quantity and form).

E. Maintenance of contribution to global carbon cycle (to be addressed by the Forest and Rangeland Sustainability Roundtables, and many other groups)

F. Maintenance and enhancement of long-term social, economic, and cultural benefits to meet the needs of societies

F1. Social, economic, and cultural benefits stemming from energy and mineral/material systems.

F2. Social, economic, and cultural benefits stemming from systems other than energy and mineral/material systems. (to be addressed by the Forest, Rangeland and Water Roundtables)

G. Legal, institutional and economic framework to support sustainable development.

G1. Relevant to mineral/material and energy systems

G2. Relevant to other systems. (to be addressed by the Forest, Rangeland and Water Sustainability Roundtables)

Status and Timeline

• Preliminary, draft set of indicators has been completed

• Federal agencies will compile available data

• Draft First Approximation Report

• Review and Revision