The World Economic Forum’s Mining and Metals Industry community is a high-level group of peers dedicated to ensuring the long-term sustainability of their industry and value to society.

Industry agenda

The Mining and Metals Governors comprise chief executives and chairs from partner organizations who define the industry agenda. The Governors have identified three priority challenges for the industry:

·       Energy Transition

Minerals are essential components for many clean energy technologies, from wind turbines, electrical grids to electric vehicles. Ensuring that these and other technologies can continue to be provided with sufficient mineral resources to support the acceleration of the energy transition is therefore a significant challenge that needs to be faced. On the other hand, the industry will need to adjust to respond to the increasing ESG requirements, specially looking at decarbonization efforts.

·       Industry transformation

The profit pool for commodities will likely change significantly by 2030. Companies will need to adapt their business models to stay relevant, competitive and sustainable in a lower-carbon economy. The Forum is addressing these challenges through relevant platforms, initiatives, projects, events and activities.

·       Cross-industry partnerships

The industry must form new models of partnerships with other industries and key clients to operate effectively and achieve its potential. Changing downstream demands regarding sustainability, responsibility and traceability, paired with water scarcity, infrastructure issues and the need for reskilling workers require cross-industry solutions beyond corporate social responsibility and industry-specific projects. 

Activities

·       Securing Minerals for the Energy Transition seeks to identify and characterize the risks derived from the increasing supply-demand gap in minerals for the energy transition, and to identify strategies for their collective management. A longer-term objective of the initiative is to design and launch a global multistakeholder platform for collaborative risk management and coordinated action. These objectives will be met by building on strategic collaborations with leading international organizations, leveraging knowledge and information already available, and involving a wide range of stakeholders along the supply chain, in all phases and activities.

·       Clean power and electrification program addresses the roadblocks and accelerates the enablers needed for the massive scale-up of clean power infrastructure on the energy supply side and also for the demand-side transformation - across transportation, industry, and buildings. In January 2023, the program launched accelerators on (1) clean power and delivery and (2) electrification and efficiency to meet this challenge. 

·       The Sector Transition to Nature Positive aims at identifying and making a business case for sector specific actions to transition to nature positive. Mining and metal sector will play an increasingly important role in combating climate change. Accelerating clean energy transition at speed and scale while creating positive impacts on nature and biodiversity is essential to a nature-positive, net-zero and equitable future. The project will deep dive in Mining and Metals as a phase II focus likely starting September 2023. 

Contact: Tatiana Aguilar, Mining and Metals Industry Manager, tatiana.aguilar@weforum.org