Transcript NONRENEWABLE RESOURCES IN SUSTAINABLE RESOURCE …

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
sustainable development
society
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
I
CERTIFICATION
Intergovernmental commitments
to principles, criteria and indicators of
sustainable resource management
(UNCED. Helsinki/Montreal C&I)
International
certification principles
and standards
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II
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National criteria
and indicators
(Refinement of Helsinki/Montreal C&I)
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National and
sub-national
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level standards
Certifiers’ own
standards
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Policy Instruments:
legislation, rules and
regulations, incentives
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Performance targets and
standards at management
unit / compartment level
Local-level assessment
standards (ecosystem or
commodity, management unit)
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Resource Management
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Internal standards of the resource unit
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I: International Consensus on
Principles of Sustainability for
Nonrenewable Resources
International Fora
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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