Financing the Responsible Supply of Energy Transition Minerals for Sustainable Development

This report was produced by the UN Environment Programme–hosted International Resource Panel, with Professor Paul Ekins, from UCL’s Institute for Sustainable Resources, The Bartlett School of Environment, Energy and Resources, serving as lead coordinating author.

Description

Supplying the energy transition minerals at the scale envisaged will require a substantial increase in investment in the mining industries. However, if this growth in mining is implemented according to current mainstream practices, it will result in considerable social and environmental damage, negatively affecting the local communities and environment where the mines are located. This assessment report covers the major issues that will need to be addressed if the low-carbon energy transition is to be supplied with the minerals it needs in a timely and responsible manner. The report focuses on how the financing of the extraction of these minerals should be reformed to bring about their environmentally and socially responsible production, and the equitable distribution of the resulting benefits. It explores the challenge for increasing the supply of primary metals, and the need to manage the demand for them through circular economy approaches and resource efficiency policies.

Authors: 

Paul Ekins (Lead Coordinating Author), 
Patrice Christmann, 
Elias Ayuk, 
Michael Obersteiner, 
Eeva Primmer, 
Helga Weisz, 
Nadia Ameli, 
Weiqiang Chen, 
Metehan Ciftci, 
Daniel Franks, 
Julius Gatune, 
Michel Jorratt, 
Francesca Larosa, 
Lynda Lawson, 
Jakob Napiontek, 
Paul Rogers, 
Kimmo Tolonen, 
Zipeng Lin, 
Brunilde Verrier, 
Peng Wang

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