The World Bank has announced a multi-donor trust fund called the Climate-Smart Mining Facility. The goal of this facility is to promote the sustainable extraction of minerals used in renewable energy technologies such as wind, solar and batteries for energy storage and electric vehicles.
The Climate-Smart Mining Facility will help resource-rich developing countries benefit from the increasing demand for minerals and metals while ensuring the mining sector is managed in a way that minimizes the environmental and climate footprint.
The World Bank plans to deploy a total investment of $50 million over 5 years.
This facility is expected to focus on activities around four core themes: climate change mitigation; climate change adaptation; reducing material impacts and creating market opportunities, contributing to the decarbonization and reduction of material impacts along the supply chain of critical minerals needed for clean energy technologies.
In its The Growing Role of Minerals and Metals for a Low Carbon Future report, the World Bank found that there will be an exponential growth in demand for “strategic minerals” such as lithium, graphite, and nickel by 2050.
Consequently, the report stated that without climate-smart mining practices, the negative impacts of mining activities would increase, affecting vulnerable communities and the environment.
The projects which the fund is expected to invest in:
- Supporting the integration of renewable energy into mining operations
- Supporting the strategic use of geological data for a better understanding of “strategic mineral” endowments
- Forest-smart mining
- Recycling of minerals
The World Bank will support a low-carbon transition where mining is climate-smart and value chains are sustainable and green.
Reference- Mercom India, World Bank Report