The mining sector, an important driver of the global revolution of electric vehicles and renewable sources of energy, is constantly looking to improve its own sustainable working practices. 

For mining organizations, sustainable practices are at the core of their license to operate. 

More and more companies have come to realize that the only way to be economically viable is to operate environmentally and socially responsibly. The themes of climate change, resource scarcity, and energy efficiency strongly resonate with the mining industry as they have been grappling with those topics in their day-to-day business. 

The evolution of electric vehicles and renewable energy has an enormous impact on demand for metals and therefore the mining industry. Cobalt and lithium are mentioned often, as these are specialty metals used in rechargeable batteries. More importantly, copper is the metal of the future, as copper is used in batteries, electric wiring in cars, motors of electric vehicles as well as transmission lines. 

To shape a climate-change-proof future, with more electric vehicles and renewable energy, raw materials will be needed, and those resources need to be mined sustainably. 

To read more about electric vehicles, click here.

Current challenges to achieving sustainability in the mining sector 

While the operations of the large-scale mining sector are essential to maintain and increase economic development around the world, the sector also continues to face serious challenges related to its significant environmental and social impact.

Environmental and social impacts of the sector include greenhouse gas emissions, toxic waste that can negatively impact soil and water quality, unsafe working conditions, and negative impacts on vulnerable groups such as women and indigenous people. Mining is also currently responsible for 4-7% of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions globally.

To address these sustainability hurdles, mining companies can adopt best practices to help them implement an environmental management system, reduce energy consumption, minimize GHG emissions and improve their social responsibility. 

What standards support sustainability?

Knowledge sits at the core of every successful business. 

It is something you can trust, something you can safely base far-reaching decisions on. Standards are knowledge and best practice. They've distilled wisdom of experience and expertise, carefully assembled in a dependable format, tried and tested yet flexible and dynamic. 

Using standards to achieve your sustainability goals demonstrates to your clients, partners, and consumers that you want to make a difference to the world that we live in, ensuring that you are respectful of people, products, and the planet. Standards equip you with the knowledge to be competitive, environmentally proactive, and socially responsible. 

BS EN ISO 14001

BS EN ISO 14001 helps businesses of all sizes across all sectors make their day-to-day operations more sustainable. Sustainability can ultimately save money, improve brand reputation, engage employees and build resilience against uncertainty as well as the ability to rapidly adapt to change. It provides guidance on how to consider multiple aspects of your business procurement, storage, distribution, product development, manufacturing, etc.- so that it reduces its impact on the environment. It also drives you to evaluate how you manage emergency response, customer expectations, stakeholders, and your relationships with your local community.

BS EN ISO 14064-1

BS EN ISO 14064-1:2019 specifies principles and requirements at the organization level for the quantification and reporting of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and removals. It includes requirements for the design, development, management, reporting, and verification of an organization’s GHG inventory.

BS EN ISO 14090

Climate change will impact mining organizations for decades to come. These impacts can be physical, financial, regulatory, or reputational and businesses need to learn to adapt, which is what BS EN ISO 14090:2019 helps them do. 

This international standard exists to help organizations adapt to climate change. It sets out how they can prioritize and develop effective, efficient, specific, and deliverable adaptations which will increase resilience and demonstrate robust and credible risk management.

BS EN ISO 50001

Used by large and small organizations across the world to manage and reduce energy use and costs, BS EN ISO 50001 is an excellent framework to help implement an energy management system (EnMS). 

Implementing an EnMS provides a systematic approach necessary to continually improve energy performance. Once in place, an EnMS enables an organization to set and achieve objectives and energy targets, take action to improve its energy performance, and benefit from the efficiency and cost savings as a result. 

BS EN ISO 26000:2020

BS EN ISO 26000:2020 outlines international recommendations for social responsibility. It covers organizational governance, human rights, working practices, environmental policies, sustainable development, and community involvement. It provides a framework for companies to build a robust and long-term corporate responsibility strategy – helping them gain a competitive advantage and giving stakeholders greater confidence in the integrity of the business.

Ensure your mining company is operating environmentally and socially responsible by adding these standards to your collection today.

Discover BSI Knowledge

Want to have access to all your sustainability standards in one place? A BSI Knowledge subscription gives you instant access to the resources you need to improve your sustainability processes. The flexibility and visibility it provides of the best practices guidance enable you and your team to get the most from standards - no matter where they are in the world. Build your own custom collection of standards, or opt for access to our GBM06 Environment & Waste module and keep up-to-date with any relevant changes to your sustainability strategy. Request to learn more.