Climate Change-Gold Mines

Climate Change – Gold Mines

One of the most complex challenges that the world is facing nowadays is the climate change problems, requiring scientific, economic, social, political and moral considerations. It has significant impacts on a local scale, likely to persist for many generations threatening lives and livelihoods of many people in different locations. In order to better manage these risks in the future which can not be avoided or mitigated completely, plans need to be made and actions to be taken by governments, companies, civil society and community organisations.

Gold mining plays a vital part in the economic and social development of many emerging or fron-tier economies, and many of the nations that host mining operations are also countries that are among the most vulnerable to the disruptive and potentially destructive impacts from climate change and extreme weather events.

An improved understanding of the nature of climate-related risks and physical impacts, and the formulation of better plans to prepare for and adapt to these risks, can therefore result not only in more resilient gold mines, but also more resilient local economies and safer, more sta-ble and prosperous local communities.

There are a wide range of factors that will influence adaptation and resilience to climate change in gold mining.These climate-related risks are typically categorised as transitional risk factors, associated with the decarbonisation of the global economy, such as policy, legal, and technology interventions, market readiness, and reputation protection, and physical risk factors, manifested in acute impacts (severe and short-term) and chronic impacts (long-term, gradual change).

Acute physical climate impacts are typically witnessed in the form of extreme weather and weather-related events, such as tropical storms, wildfires, droughts and flooding, whereas chronic impacts refer to enduring changes and shifts in, for example, average air or land tem-peratures, sea levels, water acidification, soil quality, and other persistent trends.

The gold mining sector has made substantial progress in understanding the impacts of climate change on mining assets with a range of operators having undertaken detailed climate risk as-sessments and reported on their adaption plans.

Current approaches to reporting on physical climate risks tend to focus more on considerations of the vulnerability of a mining operation to specific acute events and setting adaptation measures accordingly to reduce immediate business and financial impacts. For example, the pos-sibility of extreme rainfall causing flooding risk may prompt a redesign of drainage infrastructure to better manage flood events and thereby reduce the risk of operational disruptions and poten-tial mine closure.

Climate change is, however, creating a complex ‘ecosystem’ of interconnected impacts and inter-actions between the natural and human environment, and this has implications far greater than the immediate consequences of isolated weather incidents and specific impacts.
The in-combination and cumulative effects of more than one physical climate impact can create a compounding or cascading set of risks which, together, can impose a far greater overall for example, the risk of flash flooding from extreme rainfall (that is, an acute impact) is significantly magnified by long-term dry weather (a chronic impact) reducing the ground’s ability to absorb water. Assessment of risk therefore needs to address wider in-combination effects.
For example, the changing hydrological catchment environment (deforestation, urbanisation, soil erosion etc.) on the risk of flash flooding.

The complex of interconnected climate impacts may also affect vulnerable entities, facilities, stakeholders, and communities, that reside outside of conventional corporate risk assessment boundaries. Whilst these risks may be indirect to a mine site, their magnitude may significantly affect operations. For example, local communities will share climate change conditions with neighbouring mines and acute and chronic impacts may negatively affect employee welfare, social wellbeing and local economy stability, which may then raise challenges for mine sites, even if they have proven to be relatively unaffected by a particular impact or hazard.

The geography of gold mining, with mine sites often located in emerging economies and re-mote locations with limited and/or fragile infrastructure, means the industry may find itself at the ‘front-line’ of climate change risks and efforts to manage their potential physical con-sequences. This, coupled with frequent high levels of dependence of host governments, local authorities, and communities on mining revenues, suggests that gold mine site resilience and responses may be particularly significant to wide set of stakeholders.

Gold mining, given its often strategic and pivotal role in local economies, may have an oppor-tunity to lead on developing approaches to respond to the complex challenges of climate change. In creating robust and sustainable mining operations in the face of physical climate risks and hazards, the industry may enable greater resilience at and beyond the mine site, reduc-ing the economic and social risks for all stakeholders.

A) Plans to address climate change vulnerabilities include:
• The use of meteorological forecasting to prepare for acute weather impacts,
• The use of long-term environmental monitoring to inform adaptation plans in re-sponse to specific climate impacts,
• The development of additional emergency response procedures,
• The implementation of management procedures for further inspection and maintenance of mining assets,

B) Infrastructure design measures for greater resilience include:
• Designing resilience to extreme weather events through the(re-)engineering of tailings, transport infrastructure, water systems and power systems,
• Increasing the capacity of operational infrastructure such as pumps and power solu-tions,
• Building emergency health and safety accommodation.

C) Companies reported that they were aware that climate impacts could lead to the fol-lowing:
• Disruption of livelihoods and increased dependencies,
• Increased vulnerability of food provision and food prices, particularly for coastal communi-ties,
• Climate related migration and community tensions,
• Increased risk of water pollution and water borne diseases,
• Drought-induced competition for water resources between mining operations and host communities, creating tension or civil unrest,
• Wildfire and extreme weather risks to local safety, homes and livelihoods.

This awareness has, in some instances, led to collaborative efforts to introduce greater community resilience. For example, some gold mines are already working with neighbouring communities and villages to develop emergency responses to extreme weather by:

• Developing a command structure and allocating predefined responsibilities and per-sonnel,
• Establishing community-based disaster warning equipment and facilities,
• Responding to local drought by voluntarily provision of drinking water to the local com-munity.

Seven recommendations, beyond the guidance and measures are already in place, to potentially advance sectoral planning in hope that this might bring the gold mining industry closer together in its responses to physical climate change risks and in collaborating with and supporting its local supply chains and communities:

1. Greater consistency and knowledge sharing in defining methodologies for assessing climate vulnerability and adaptation,
2. Balance consideration of acute risk with a longer- term view on chronic risks,
3. Greater acknowledgement and understanding of combined compound risks,
4. Integrate community risk into local vulnerability appraisals and resilience plans,
5. Use local and indigenous knowledge of climate change and weather impacts to inform the physical risk assessment process,
6. Sharing knowledge and resources with communities and stakeholders,
7. Plan for innovation.

The physical and disruptive impacts of climate change are already being experienced around the world and will continue to affect society and the environment in a growing and very significant way. However, these impacts vary substantially across the globe and within countries, with diverse and complex consequences for human systems, industries, and ecosystems.

Climate risks and hazards may also affect the gold mining sector in multiple ways, including having direct impacts on the operations and integrity of mines, as well as affecting the wider supply chain and the populations that reside in or near gold mining locations. The pivotal role gold mining often plays in many remote and developing economies, in places that may already be very vulnerable to physical climate impacts, makes the industry’s awareness of the opportunities for increased resilience, and its corresponding adaptation plans, of particular significance.

There are seven key recommendations that could support the further resilience of the gold mining sector:
1. Greater consistency and knowledge sharing in defining methodologies for as-sessing climate vulnerability and adaptation,
2. Balance consideration of acute risk with a longer-term view on chronic risks,
3. Greater acknowledgement and understanding of combined compound risks,
4. Integrate community risk into local vulnerability appraisals and resilience plans,
5. Use local and indigenous knowledge of climate change and weather impacts to inform the climate risk assessment process,
6. Sharing knowledge and resources with local communities, and adopting a multi-stakeholder approach to adaptation planning and designing for climate change resilience,
7. Plan for innovation, using data and technology to produce a more dynamic ap-proach to managing climate-related vulnerabilities and potential physical hazards.

Taken together, these findings suggest that gold mining, which already plays a significant role in catalysing socio-economic growth and development opportunities in many emerging economies, might also contribute to building greater local resilience to physical climate impacts in host locations. In demonstrating its increased awareness of vulnerabilities and hazards, and their complex interconnections, and in expanding its capacity to adapt to a changing climate, gold mining may find that many of the building blocks to enable its greater future resilience are already in place.

To build on these foundations will, however, likely require more systematic planning, wider consultation, and greater collaboration across the gold sector and beyond, involving a broad set of stakeholders, including closer engagement on climate-related risks with local communities.

These challenges are not unique to gold mining, but the industry is, perhaps, in a particularly strong position in the implications its responses and progress will have for its many stakeholders, particularly in remote and developing economies.