Malet Pl
London WC1E 7JE
UK
Adoption of the COP21 agreement suggests that nations will invest in infrastructures for renewable energy sources. These changes will require vast amounts of metals and minerals. Regardless of whether known supplies are enough to meet demand in the near future, efforts must be made now to forestall unpredictable yet inevitable supply shortages that would dramatically impact the building of additional generation and distribution capacity. But in response to the current downturn in commodity prices, the global mining industry is downsizing and reducing investment in new exploration, putting at risk future security of supply.
The new adaptive technologies needed to tackle climate change depend on extraction of minerals and metals. An interdisciplinary group supported by IUGS, ICSU and UNESCO proposes actions to avert the looming minerals crisis that is developing in the context of current recycling capacity and exploration trends.
Our immediate goal is to stimulate discussion of supply constraints using available data on mineral reserves, focusing on primary resources over the next two to three decades when the availability of metals for recycling will remain low.
We advocate establishing an international panel (under the auspices of the United Nations) to monitor consumption and production of mineral resources for future generations.
About the speaker:
Edmund was Executive Secretary of The Geological Society of London from 1997 until his retirement in September 2015. Previously he held senior posts within the British Geological Survey, the then Science and Technology Secretariat of the Cabinet Office where he was environmental adviser, and the Natural Environment Research Council. Since 2013 he has chaired a group on behalf of the International Union of Geological Sciences promoting a new initiative, Resourcing Future Generations. He is a Fellow of the Geological Society of London, a Chartered Scientist, Chartered Geologist and European Geologist.