It’s the catch phrase that is whipping corporate boardrooms into a frenzy. How is the mining industry responding to the challenge? After all, the global sector contributes significant amounts of greenhouse gases – the primary cause of global warming and climate change – into the atmosphere. Mining companies have a lot to lose from proposed global restrictions on carbon dioxide emissions, which could reduce their output and profits.
Even though some scientists are still sceptical that climate change actually exists, major mining companies have been preparing at least a decade for a global carbon crackdown. According to Mining Journal’s online survey of many of the world’s top mining companies, climate change is all about “risk and opportunity”. Yes, climate change could harm our operations, they say – because of compulsory energy restrictions, change in product demand and the actual physical effects of global warming – but it also presents opportunities. Increased demand for uranium as an alternative energy source is one positive aspect for those that produce it, but scope for new products and technology development is also a potentially profitable effect of climate change action.
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