Introduction
The thursday, august 18, 2022 the Regional Event "..." was held virtually.Outcomes of the Raw Materials and Climate project: Closing of the regional mining and climate event series"The event is the latest in a series of eight virtual events on mining and climate change organized by the Raw Materials and Climate Project (MCCP).MaPriC) with the support of the LEDS LAC platform. MaPriC is a project implemented by the German Development Cooperation (GIZ) together with the Colombian Ministry of Mines and Energy (Minenergia). This event was organized with the Chile MaPriC Project and was attended by 101 participants from 15 countries.
The event began with the recapitulation of the seven events carried out by Yaklan Andrea ZapataClimate Change and Capacity Building Advisor for the MaPriC Project. Next, Sergio RuizThe MaPriC Project Coordinator, presented the results and lessons learned from the project. In addition, the international vision of mining and climate was presented by Max HatzoldMining Governance Expert at the Sectoral Department of GIZ Germany, and Damian BrettClimate Smart Mining Lead of the World Bank.
The last block of the event consisted of a panel of final reflections and a look at the future of the project, with the participation of representatives of German cooperation, government and the private sector. Participants included Maritza BaezaChief Sustainability Officer of Cerro Negro (Chilean copper producer); Sergio EscuderoMining Director of Conconcreto (Colombian stone aggregates company); Sebastian RojasHead of Sustainability of Central Valley Mining (Chile's leading tailings processing company); Diego GrajalesCoordinator of the Climate Change Group of the Ministry of Mines and Energy of Colombia; Priscilla LeufumanProfessional of the Sustainable Energy Division of the Chilean Ministry of Energy; Max HatzoldMining Governance Expert at the Sectoral Department of the Ministry of Energy and Mines. GIZ Germany and Sergio Antonio RuizProject Coordinator MaPriCGIZ Colombia.
Key messages
Recap and results of past MaPriC events by theme
From October 2021 to August 2022, the MaPriC project co-organized with the LEDS LAC platform eight regional events on Mining and Climate. Together, the events attracted more than 1,500 attendees from 32 countries around the world. The Raw Materials and Climate Project Video Results presents a summary of the first six events of the series.
MaPriC Project Results and Lessons Learned
The MaPriC Project has been working since 2019 on the relationship between mining and climate in Colombia and Chile. Its objective is to promote the reduction of greenhouse gases (GHG) in the mining sector, contributing to the energy transition process. Work was carried out in four fields of action (CoA):
- In Colombia, the mining sector is positioned within the instruments of international conventions (e.g. NDC) and Comprehensive Climate Change Plans are being developed. Chile supports the Energy Efficiency Law and participates in the Green Mining Strategy.
- CoA 2 - Corporate environmental standards and development of national regulations: High-level standards were promoted in Colombian companies (ISO, IRMA, Life Cycle Analysis, GRI).
- CoA 3 - Energy efficiency measures in companies: An Energy Efficiency Network was promoted with 16 companies. In addition, two events and 13 working meetings were held.
- CA 4 - Capacity building and exchange of experiences: Through the series of regional events, very productive exchanges were achieved between academia, the public and private sectors, and international cooperation.
Throughout the project, it was challenging to promote and achieve interinstitutional coordination, both horizontally at the ministry level and vertically between local and regional middle management. The dichotomy between the extractivist view and the environmental view of horizontal coordination was a barrier to the development of public policies. On the other hand, thanks to clear and transparent communication by MaPriC, trust was generated between the public and private sectors.
Mining and climate: International vision
Through the Raw materials and environment portfolio of GIZ GermanyThe Mining Governance department is currently working on a portfolio of mining, climate and just transition projects. The first group are classic projects focused on commodity, environmental and mining governance issues. Two of these projects are MaPriC (in Colombia and Chile) and MinSus (Andean countries). The other group of projects addresses broader and more diverse topics such as just transition, green taxes, supply chain, public investment, territorial development and citizen participation. However, due to limited public funding in Germany due to the current budget situation, several mining and climate initiatives will remain pending. Nevertheless, just transition will be a topic of interest and will have great opportunities in the coming years along with others such as supply chain, green taxes, the World Bank's climate and forest smart mining initiatives, mine closure and rehabilitation, legal framework and state control.
The concept of Climate Smart Mining (CSM) is driven by the World Bank. and includes topics such as energy transition, sustainable development and just transition. This is a relevant issue since, in order to build the necessary infrastructure for the different types of renewable energies, a considerable increase in the demand for copper and other metals has already been identified. For this reason, it is essential to decarbonize the mining sector. Governments are already investing in critical minerals, new processing technologies and reviewing supply chains to find alternatives. On the other hand, the just transition approach involves long-term planning, taking into account that the energy transition will have impacts on coal-dependent communities and regions (job losses and lifestyle changes). Among the projects or tools carried out by the World Bank are the Net Zero Transition Roadmap for copper and nickel and the Climate Mineral Explorer.
Final reflections panel, project legacy and a look into the future
Cerro Negro is a Chilean copper producer that has achieved a reduction in GHG emissions of 30% in the production of copper cathodes and 14% in the production of copper concentrate. They also received support to lay the foundations for their energy management system and have held diploma courses to train their personnel and introduce energy efficiency and green mining concepts. For Cerro Negro, the MaPriC Project meant learning about the concepts of energy efficiency and decarbonization in order to move towards green mining. However, they point out that public policies are still needed for smaller companies.
Conconcreto is a Colombian stone aggregates company that has undergone a cultural change thanks to the MaPriC project. As a result, it has generated greater value and a different vision of the business. Within the framework of this accompaniment, energy efficiency, climate change and new business models projects have also been developed. The MaPriC project also serves as an interpreter between what Minenergia requests and the company's obligations in relation to climate change. However, it is still necessary to give continuity to the development and implementation of public policies.
Central Valley Mining is a company dedicated to the reprocessing of tailings from other mining companies. It is currently forecasting an improvement in the efficiency of equipment use by 15% and up to 30% in the future. Thanks to the MaPriC Project, they received advice and support to obtain economic and operational benefits. They were also able to learn about other experiences, participate in some public policy initiatives and participate in enriching exchanges with peers and strategic partners. However, their biggest challenge is to find energy sources for an energy transition since the necessary technologies are not available.
The Ministry of Mines and Energy of Colombia considers that MaPriC acted as a catalyst and support to the sector for the appropriation of the climate change policy, which could be better understood in order to be materialized. Its legacy is the trust created between the public and private sectors. The project also assisted in the formulation of the National Climate Change Policy.
The Ministry of Energy of Chile has promoted the Energy Efficiency Law. Through a cooperation agreement, the MaPriC Project helped to bring the concept of energy efficiency closer to the companies. A pending issue to be addressed is public policies with small and medium-sized mining companies.
GIZ GermanyHistorically, the climate change theme has been based on energy, restoration and conservation issues. However, mining is key since without raw materials there is no energy transition, no sustainable mobility and no digitalization. Despite its relevance, the discussion on climate change and mining is still very limited. It is also necessary to work collaboratively between countries with a comprehensive and holistic mission and vision, as well as an international outlook in both production and the supply chain.
GIZ ColombiaEnergy transition has been the focus of much of the climate change discourse over the last decade. While this has been changing in recent years, projects include to a lesser extent sectors such as mining which, while not necessarily carbon-intensive, are critical to ensure that the necessary materials are in place to support such a transition. We must also remember that the sector plays other roles in development (e.g., aggregates for urban development), so it is not only critical minerals that need to be decarbonized.