A perspective from the Co-Chairs of the Global Future Council on Responsible Resource Use BOX 3 The economy and society depend on resources that provide the foundations for many global sectors, from the built environment to mobility to food and energy. The rate at which resources have been extracted, used and disposed of has increased rapidly due to the combination of population and economic growth and improvements in social well-being in the past decades. Last year, more than 100 billion tonnes of resources were extracted.75 In the past six years, resources equivalent to those used throughout the entire 20th century have been consumed.76 The scale and methods employed today to extract resources, together with their increasing consumption, are one of the leading causes of the triple planetary crisis: climate change, biodiversity loss and pollution. Additionally, as highlighted by the International Resource Panel in September 2024,77 social inequality is a driver and a consequence of current resource use patterns. While lower-income and middle-income countries have historically supplied resources to higher-income nations, this trend shifted in 2014, and upper-middle-income countries, including China, Brazil, Mexico and South Africa, now extract approximately half of the resources used. This relocation is driven by the outsourcing of material- and energy-intensive production processes by higher-income countries and the increasing demand for materials to develop infrastructure in newly industrializing countries. However, upper-middle- income countries are also likely to have lower environmental standards, which generates a net displacement of environmental impacts from high-income countries into the producing and exporting regions. This challenge extends beyond resources to consumption as a whole. Indeed, in 2022, more than half of global land and biodiversity-related loss occurred in Africa and Latin America, but less than 10% of global value-added was generated in these regions. On the other hand, almost half of the global value-added is generated in Europe and North America, although less than 10% of global water stress and biodiversity loss happens in these regions. How can these patterns change to become resource stewards and transition to responsible resource use patterns? This was the question posed to the Global Future Council on Responsible Resource Use from 2023 to 2024. First, it is vital to prioritize reducing demand for new extraction where possible by ensuring that the lifetime value of materials is maximized in a circular economy and consumer habits are adapted. Second, any new extraction must be conducted responsibly while respecting communities and the environment. Third, it is necessary to change use patterns and decouple economic growth and human well-being from increasing resource consumption.78 This report’s primary aim is to contribute to the advancement of this second step: responsible extraction. Decision-makers are invited to consider these recommendations, which lay out how to improve extractive industries from an environmental and social standpoint, as a critical and necessary step of the responsible resource use journey. Gillian Davidson Sustainability Adviser to the Chief Executive Officer, Eurasian Resources Group (ERG) Mauricio Cárdenas Professor and Director, MPA in Global Leadership, Columbia University Corporate leaders should start to assess, commit, transform and disclose – as per the ACT-D framework – in a more systematic way. As noted in the Introduction, companies need to: identify, measure, value and prioritize their nature-related impacts and dependencies across their value chains to ensure they act on the most material ones; set transparent, time-bound, specific, science-based targets when material; take actions to transform their businesses; and track performance to publicly disclose material nature- related information. Pursuing action to contribute to nature-positive alongside existing climate action can allow businesses to mitigate risks, capture nature- related opportunities and build long-term resilience. For more information on tools and guidance available for the ACT-D set of high-level actions, see Table 1. A range of other activities will also be needed to support the stages of ACT-D, including agreeing on definitions, determining materiality thresholds, mapping assets and operations, gathering information on existing nature-related activities, making the case for nature action internally within an organization (beyond disclosure), and establishing the vision of success. Nature Positive: Role of the Mining and Metals Sector 18 Nature Positive: Role of the Mining and Metals Sector18

Nature Positive Role of the Mining and Metals Sector