Mining & Metals

Industry Partners are select Member companies of the World Economic Forum that are actively involved in the Forum’s mission at the industry level. With privileged access to the Forum’s multistakeholder networks and experts, partnership brings visibility and insight to strategic decision-making on the most important industry and cross-industry related issues.

This access and insight allows Partners to contribute to leading change in global and regional issues and engage in action to support corporate global citizenship. 

Highlights 

• The Resource Summit – Given the strategic importance of mineral resources in the global economy, this annual high-level dialogue on access to resources, supply/demand dynamics and international investment brings together Chinese and International senior executives, government officials and international organizations on the occasion of the World Economic Forum’s Annual Meeting of the New Champions in the People’s Republic of China.

• The Mining & Metals Scenarios to 2030 project involved some 300 stakeholders from business, governments and civil society to jointly develop future scenarios for the global environment in which the mining and metals sector will have to operate in 2030.

• Engagement with policy governors and key government figures from major mining economies in constructive dialogue on key issues shaping the future of the sector.

• The Future of Mining & Metals Global Agenda Council provides a body of leadership and expertise on the top issues shaping the sector, from a global and regional perspective. One of over 70 Global Agenda Councils established by the World Economic Forum, this group utilises WELCOM.
• Stakeholder roundtables on a participatory approach to mineral development in developing countries, held in Colombia, India, Tanzania and Mongolia.

Projects and Initiatives

Mining & Metals

• Responsible Mineral Development How can extractive industries in mineral-wealthy developing countries contribute to socio-economic development and guarantee sustainability in their relationship with national, sub-national and local communities?

Cross-Industry 

• Scenarios for an Increasingly Resource-scarce World The future availability of natural resources – energy, metals, minerals, water, food and agricultural land – will have significant implications for businesses, governments and other stakeholders. A unique cross-industry approach, this project seeks to understand the implications of resource scarcity and develop relevant policy recommendations in response, supported by the Forum’s Energy, Mining and Metals, Agriculture and Food & Beverage Industries in collaboration with the Risk Officers Community. In particular we see an opportunity to develop this into a more specific Metals/Commodities deep dive specific to the Mining & Metals community and look forward to your inputs on this in the coming months.

• The Future of Manufacturing The Future of Manufacturing Scenarios Project will serve as a high-level platform for executives from the World Economic Forum's Industry Partnership programmes in the automotive, aviation, energy, engineering and construction, information technology and telecommunications, logistics and consumer industries to explore potential scenarios facing the future of manufacturing, based on the key external drivers impacting the manufacturing sector and obtain strategic insights. Following a session at the 2011 Annual Meeting in Davos, the project will include a series of workshops, focusing on the following dimensions: talent/skills; employment and capacity (in both developing and developed nations); resources scarcity; evolving supply chains.

• New Vision for Agriculture Over the past three years, food security and economic crises have highlighted both the urgent need and the potential for developing sustainable agricultural systems. Nearly one billion people lack access to adequate food and nutrition. By 2050, the global population will surpass 9 billion people, and demand for agricultural products is expected to double. At the same time, the world’s agricultural systems will be increasingly challenged by water scarcity, climate change and volatility, raising the risk of production shortfalls. The New Vision for Agriculture initiative offers a platform through which stakeholders can create a shared agenda for action on sustainable agricultural development. It engages high-level leaders of industry, government, international institutions and civil society– with support from leading experts – to define joint priorities, recommendations and opportunities for collaboration. Issues addressed by the initiative include:
  • Leveraging public and private-sector investment
  • Sharing environmental best practices
  • Developing agricultural markets, including opportunities for small-scale farmers
  • Improving access to affordable and nutritious food
• Driving Sustainable Consumption Initiative: Policy Innovation Platform The Driving Sustainable Consumption initiative has developed practical ideas to place sustainability and the vision of closed loop systems at the heart of business models, policy-making and individual engagement. The Forum has created the Policy Innovation Platform (PIP) to deliver a framework that encourages all stakeholders to identify policy levers which offer the greatest opportunities to tip the economy as a whole towards sustainable consumption growth. This platform engages CEOs, government leaders and social figures in a public-private dialogue, understanding and collaboration process that aims at building on success stories which can be replicated and scale up as well as highlight key leverage policy reforms and business innovations which enable and drive sustainable consumption. Effective policies will be those designed to effectively catalyze transformative business practices and citizen behaviours aligned to sustainable consumption.

Sustainability and Corporate Global Citizenship 

• Green Growth The Green Growth Partnerships Initiative will work with a select group of emerging economy governments in Latin America, sub-Saharan Africa and Asia to help prepare concrete policy changes that would allow them to transform their low carbon growth plans, as well as some key sector strategies and project concepts within them, into solid propositions that are attractive to the private sector and the capital markets. Sectors under examination will include energy, transport and land use.
• Partnering Against Corruption Initiative (PACI) PACI is a multistakeholder initiative to develop industry principles and practices that will result in a competitive, level playing field, based on integrity, fairness and ethical conduct.
• Water Security Analysis suggests the world will face a 40% global shortfall of freshwater by 2030. In today’s interlinked economy, accelerating stress on water will affect food and energy systems around the world. To address this urgent issue, the initiative is cooperating in alignment with the 2030 Water Resources Group, formed in 2008 to contribute new insights to the increasingly critical issue of water resource scarcity. In Phase 2, participants will support governments in managing their future water needs. They will produce an economic analysis of the scale of the water problem and the cost of resolving it and convene networks of public and private sector experts to develop ways forward based on best practice. Participants will also support governments in developing public-private transformations in the water sector.

Contact

For more information on the Mining & Metals Industry Partnership Programme, please contact Irina Dhowtalut, Senior Team Coordinator, irina.dhowtalut@weforum.org