Abstract

The International Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has predicted that by 2025, 50 per cent of the world’s population will live in areas of water scarcity. The desire to transition to a low carbon economy is complicating issues of water supply and demand. For example, over the next decade as we transition from fossil fuels, global water demand is predicted to exceed current supply by 40 per cent.

For mining, water is both a business need and a business risk. Two thirds of the world’s largest mines are in areas already experiencing water scarcity, and over 50% of the critical metals required for electric vehicles and green infrastructure, such as copper and lithium, are found in water-stressed areas. This places mining at the epicentre of a collision course between clean energy technologies and water stewardship, with mining’s considerable impact on water supply and quality in the spotlight.

Of course, not only miners need water.  Water is life. We all need water: for agriculture and livestock care, for electricity generation, for spiritual and religious reasons, for recreational pursuits, and for meeting basic needs. Access to water is a recognised human right and has been identified as one of the wicked problems that the United Nations 2030 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) seeks to address. Shrinking availability, degraded quality and unpredictable water supply are triggers for mining community conflict. And competition for water is likely to be exacerbated as the world transitions to a green energy future.

Without a radical reprioritization that enables transformative innovation, the impacts of mining on water supplies could offset - or even negate - mining’s positive contributions to clean energy technologies. These considerations make water a “wicked” problem of sustainability – one that is too large for any one group acting unilaterally to resolve. Solving wicked problems requires collaborative partnerships with diverse stakeholders and rightsholders.

In this facilitated panel we ask an interdisciplinary group of experts to reflect on the question, How do we build collaborate partnerships to drive systemic change and advance sustainable development in the mining industry? To narrow the question, and to build synergy with the Water in Mining Global Summit happening in Vancouver (May 16-17), we will focus panel discussions on water stewardship.

The 60-minute session will begin with a short, scene setter, presentation on building internal alignment for water stewardship. Each panel member will then be given two minutes to provide their answer to the question before a facilitated discussion begins. Slido will be used to crowd source the most popular audience questions to be posed to panel members.

Confirmed Panelists:

Rohitesh Dhawan
President and CEO
ICMM

Professor Lesley A. Warren
Claudette Mackay-Lassonde Chair in Mineral Engineering
Department of Civil and Mineral Engineering
Director | Mining Futures
University of Toronto

Kavita Singh
Global Water Management Principal
Resource Centre of Excellence
BHP

Andre Xavier
Senior Manager, 
Natural Resources and Sustainable Development
Catalyste+

Emily O'Hara
Manager, Water Strategy and Stewardship
New Gold Inc.