On behalf of Svemin, the Swedish trade association for mines, mineral and metal producers, Ecogain has developed the first industry roadmap for biodiversity in Sweden: Mining with Nature.
The vision was to create something concrete to support the individual companies in their work with biodiversity, and also to send a political message. Following discussions in the working group with representatives of the mining and minerals industry, it soon became clear that it was precisely an industry roadmap they wanted to develop - the first of its kind.
The overall target is ambitious: by 2030, the mining and minerals industry will contribute to biodiversity in all regions where exploration and mining and minerals activities take place.
To achieve this, the basis of the roadmap is, among other things, to increase knowledge in the area and work based on the consideration hierarchy; avoid, minimize, restore and compensate. This means working actively to minimize impacts on sensitive areas, taking all reasonably significant mitigation measures, planning for ecological aftercare and, in addition to these measures, also striving to compensate for residual damage to biodiversity.
The aim is to make it easier for the industry and individual companies to understand risks and opportunities and to set targets for their organization-specific work. This may involve mapping risks and dependencies, as well as opportunities to add value to biodiversity.
The issue of biodiversity will soon be as natural a part of companies' sustainability work as the climate issue, and it is noticeable that more and more actors are opening their eyes to how well-functioning ecosystem services and reduced climate change go hand in hand. The mining industry in Sweden is a pioneer that looks beyond just fossil-free and takes greater responsibility through this roadmap, but I believe it is only a matter of time before more industries follow in the same footsteps.
- Tove Hägglund, Project Manager Ecogain.
Despite the outbreak of the Corona pandemic in the middle of the work, there were never any thoughts of canceling or postponing the project. Through digital meetings, work continued as planned and the project was completed on time.
Of course, there are things that could have been done differently if it had not been for the restrictions that applied, but the basic planning in this project was that we would have a lot of remote meetings. This has been a cornerstone of the approach from the beginning and I really think it has been crucial for many in the working group to be able to participate in parallel with their other assignments. The project evaluation was very positive, so it feels like a success story! I am convinced that we will continue to work a lot with video meetings in the future.
- Tove Hägglund, Project Manager Ecogain.
