Euromines welcomes a European Green Deal to put Europe on the right track to a sustainable future and is prepared to take the necessary measures to make it the world's first climate neutral continent. At the same time, we believe that policy efforts should be aligned with the fundamental principle of sustainable development, ensure the essential current needs and safeguard the needs of future generations while contributing to economic, social and environmental development. Primary production of metals and minerals, which remain abundant, will play an important role in production processes to 2050 and increased sustainable supply from European sources will be needed in order to make a sustainable transition. The mining sector is well regulated and unavoidably diverse because each operation is developing a unique natural phenomenon. Inclusion of extractive industries in the IED is unlikely to bring additional protection of human health and the environment because the least impacting techniques and technologies are already required by mining and quarrying authorities in the EU Member States.

As the recognized representative of the European mineral raw materials industry covering more than 42 different metals and minerals and employing 350.000 people directly and about four times as many indirectly, Euromines welcomes a Climate Law aiming to assess what would be required to have a more balanced reduction pathway from 2020 to 2050 and to specify what is necessary when increasing the GHG emissions reduction targets by 2030.

As the first segment of most value chains and a critical supplier of materials vital for a transition to a low-carbon society, the mineral raw material industry is prepared to take the necessary actions aimed at turning Europe into the world's first climate neutral continent and contribute to a sustainable and inclusive growth. At the same time, we believe that the Climate Law should form the basis of a stable, coherent, socio-economically feasible policy framework allowing the implementation of most efficient measures to reduce greenhouse gas emissions while ensuring that long-time goals and the international competitiveness of the industry is not endangered. In this context, one of the main purposes of the Climate Law should be to ensure an integrated approach to consistency, stability, and predictability along the whole value chain.

Climate change is an undeniable and critical global challenge and its causes must be addressed by everybody as inaction is no longer an option. Transitioning to a low-carbon economy and achieving the EU climate targets will require large amounts of resources and efforts. The European magnesia sector recognizes the need to respond to this challenge and is committed to take the necessary measures to ensure that it is part of the solution.

Provider of main primary raw materials for several value chains such as steel, agriculture, paper, cement, ceramics, rubber and plastics, glass, pharmaceuticals, the European magnesia industry is a strategic supplier generating value added through employment, economic growth, development, innovation and trade. Hence, our sector is committed to engage along the value chain to ensure that climate change risks are adequately taken into consideration, decarbonisation actions are adopted and implemented and emissions are mitigated and reduced.

Euromines brochure is a brief overview of the importance of mineral raw materials for the EU future development. Raw materials are the key enablers of many important policies that will shape our future, such as adaptation to and mitigation of the climate change challenges.

The EU has the potential to increase its capacity to source mineral raw materials domestically and sustainably. It is not a lack of resources; it is a lack of exploration with latest technology that feeds the myth of depleting resources. By increasing mineral domestic production, Europe becomes less dependent and improves its sustainable supply chain.

Mineral Raw Materials in modern society are the lifeblood of the economy. They are the basis for many sectors like agriculture, construction, IT, electronics, energy, chemistry, manufacturing, medicine. Raw materials depending industries in the EU provided 206 billion EUR of added value.

The economic importance of the raw materials sector goes far beyond the sector’s own economic activities.
Whilst engaging about 350.000 jobs within the EU, there are more than 24.6 million jobs in downstream
manufacturing industries depend on the secure supply of mineral raw materials.

The European mineral raw materials industry contributes to sustainable development by integrating economic growth with environmental protection, social progress and effective governance. The UN laid out a sustainable development agenda to end poverty, protect the planet and ensure prosperity for all with 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Euromines supports these goals and is committing to working toward their fulfillment. Have a look and explore how the European mineral raw materials industry enabling the UN Sustainable Development Goals.

The issues of resource availability and sustainability go hand in hand as major concerns for the future of raw materials in Europe. SUPRIM aims to identify a consistent, empirically verifiable cause-and-effect chain linking flows of natural resources to sustainability impacts.

The general equations for characterisation Life Cycle Impact Assessment models developed by SUPRIM represent a new state-of-art and are the most reliable of their kind thanks to the unique mix of expertise existing within the project consortium. Read more in the SUPRIM final product publication.

The 2018 Annual Report entitled “Care: Care, Adaptation, Responsibility, Engagement” is now available for download. This year’s report addresses the unique role of the European mineral raw materials extraction industry in achieving broader EU goals of sustainability and climate change mitigation. The industry has already been utilising innovative developments in the shift toward more environmentally and socially conscious operations, but continuous improvements are always a top priority. The 2018 Annual Report discusses our current successes and challenges as we move forward in our work to provide Europe with the materials it needs for a healthy and prosperous economy. 

As the recognized representative of the European metals and minerals mining industry covering more than 42 different metals and minerals and employing 350.000 directly and about four times as many indirectly, Euromines welcomes the Commission's Sustainable Finance Action Plan for a low carbon, greener economy and agrees that such a socio - economically efficient, sustainable and flexible financial system will contribute to long-term value creation. 

In order to successfully contribute to the common objectives, it is essential that these initiatives on sustainable finance are followed by subsequent proportionate, accurate and fit for purpose documents which include measures and recommendations appropriate to all affected stakeholders.

In light of the above, Euromines would like to make a series of comments regarding the Technical Report on EU Taxonomy published by the Technical Expert Group on Sustainable Finance on 18^th of June 2019. The report is accompanied by a call for feedback as part of the ongoing work carried out by the Commission’s Directorate-general for financial stability, financial services and capital markets union, Directorate-general for environment, public consultation to which Euromines intends to participate and submit its input.

The Euromines Position Paper regarding the establishing the framework to facilitate sustainable investment (EU Taxonomy) is now available.

As the recognized representative of the European metals and minerals mining industry, Euromines welcomes the Commission’s Sustainable Finance Action Plan for a greener and cleaner economy and agrees that a socio - economically efficient, sustainable and flexible financial system is essential for long-term value creation.

The European mining industry plays a critical role in underpinning economic growth. The development of mineral resources is a pillar for many national economies, in terms of contribution to gross domestic product, foreign direct investment, tax & royalty revenues as well as other governmental revenues. Even more, the mining industry produces more than 42 different metals and minerals and employs 350.000 people directly and about 4 times as many indirectly. Modern extraction and processing of minerals and metals has brought huge benefits to society while reducing pressures on the environment, addressing green-house gas emissions, tackling pollution, minimising waste and improving efficiency in the use of natural resources. Even more, the mineral industry will continue to enable downstream sectors to realise all these improvements.

This report presents the results from a collaborative project run by Svemin, the of mines, mineral and metal producers, and SEI. The project examined the interactions between the mining sector and wider society and how
these could play out in a sustainable transformation.