The Future Battery Industries Cooperative Research Centre (FBICRC) has released a new report, providing an overview and comparison of the various sustainability reporting and disclosure schemes for the mining sector, with the aim to quantify and improve the environmental impacts of mining battery materials.
The report, titled Certification and sustainability assessment for battery materials; review of requirements and data commonalities, was led by Rusty Langdon from UTS Sustainable Futures in collaboration with University of Melbourne.
In the global race to decarbonise, significant risks exist in terms of environmental, social and governance (ESG) aspects associated with mining. Those risks are currently managed through a complex mix of voluntary and mandatory reporting schemes, many of which share common elements that are not currently coordinated resulting in costly duplication of effort.
FBICRC CEO, Shannon O’Rourke, said the report potentially carries global implications for the battery supply chain and offers a significant opportunity for the nation to differentiate itself.
“Australia is already a leader in ESG performance but the complex mix of environmental standards and certification schemes that modern miners navigate comes at a cost. The market cannot value ESG without common standards or traceability across the supply chain,” Ms O’Rourke said.
“This report cuts through the complexity and is a step towards developing a common certification language that miners can deliver on, customers can have confidence in, and ultimately pay a premium for.”
As a key investor in the FBICRC, Western Australian Minister for Mines and Petroleum, Bill Johnston, officially launched the report at a breakfast event in Sydney.
“This project seeks to ensure the battery industry is equipped for a future where battery passports are common and responsible materials supply is a requirement,” Mr Johnston said.
“Western Australia offers the growing battery and critical minerals industries strong environmental, social and governance credentials.
“The state’s existing environmental, work, health and safety regulatory regimes position companies well to participate in whichever scheme they choose to engage with.”
The Certification Commonalities Report is complementary to the the FBICRC’s recently released ‘Trusted Supply Chain’ report, and has the potential to enable producers to charge a premium for delivering products to a common standard with traceability across the supply chain, cementing Australia’s position as a global leader in ESG across the mining industry.
The two reports are available for download below:
Development of a trusted supply chain for Australian battery minerals and products
