Sustainable Critical Minerals Alliance

Country / jurisdiction: Japan · Year: 2022 · Status: In force · Level: International · Type: Voluntary

The Sustainable Critical Minerals Alliance was announced at COP15 in Montréal between Canada, Australia, Germany, France, Japan, the United Kingdom and the United States. These member states will voluntarily work on developing sustainable and inclusive mining practices and sourcing critical minerals that:

Employ a nature-positive approach,

Support local and indigenous communities,

Help fight climate change,

Restore ecosystems,

Build a circular economy and

Foster ethical corporate practices.

The Alliance promotes the global uptake of mining, processing and recycling that is responsible, environmentally sustainable and socially inclusive. The Alliance comes out of the COP 15 and aligns with the G7 2030 Nature Compact which commits to halt and reverse biodiversity loss by 2030 through systemic greenhouse gas emission reduction that preserves a focus on sustainable and inclusive development.

It welcomes and encourages collaboration with Indigenous communities, non-governmental organisations, industry and other non-state actors, as well as actions taken domestically and globally to advance the objectives of the Sustainable Critical Minerals Alliance. This may include committing to parallel and related actions and initiatives that help advance the sustainable and responsible development and sourcing of critical minerals worldwide, such as:

Government-to-government coordination through institutions like the United Nations Environment Assembly (UNEA), the International Energy Agency (IEA), the World Bank and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) to support sustainable mining and supply chain practices and frameworks.

Support for international dialogue on sustainability expectations in mining and critical minerals supply chains as well as transparency on performance in the sector.

Participation in and support to multi-stakeholder and industry initiatives that promote high standards in mining initiatives to promote diversity and inclusion in the resource and energy sectors, such as the Equal by 30 Campaign.

Conservation-specific initiatives, to halt and reverse biodiversity loss by 2030, such as signing the Leaders’ Pledge for Nature and the conservation target of protecting 30 percent of the world’s land and seas by 2030 (30 X 30).

Members of the Alliance pledge to work together through existing multilateral fora. As a next step, members will examine the collaboration and alignment with existing multilateral fora and initiatives. Finally, members of the Alliance call on national governments worldwide to join the Alliance.

Official source: https://www.canada.ca/en/natural-resources-canada/news/2022/12/countries-commit-to-the-sustainable-development-and-sourcing-of-critical-minerals.html