The Copper Mark demonstrate responsible production practices in the copper, molybdenum, nickel and zinc industries and the commitment of such industries to the green transition.
Since December 2019, the Copper Mark has been an independent entity and has committed to including the perspectives of its impacted stakeholders in the governance structure. It is governed by its Board of Directors and a multi-stakeholder Advisory Council.
The recent COP27 climate summit took place in a year which recorded unprecedented global temperatures, further underlining the urgency with which governments and industry must act to reverse climate change and promote sustainable development. As part of this process, we know that the world will require more metals and minerals in the coming decades to drive the energy transition.
Challenges for the copper industry
For copper alone, the International Energy Agency (“IEA”) has projected a 40% increase in demand to meet the Paris Climate Goals. This is because copper is used in nearly all clean energy applications. It is a critical material for technologies including solar PV, wind, bioenergy, electricity networks and battery storage.
With demand for electric vehicles (“EVs”) also rising, we expect the copper content in cars will double by 2040. Today, there is already around 30kg of copper in the average internal combustion engine (“ICE”) car. As the transition towards electric and autonomous vehicles accelerates – with battery EVs projected to dominate the market by 2040 – the copper content in cars is expected to increase to around 70kg. Currently, the annual demand for copper in ICE cars requires over two million tonnes of copper for mining and processing. By 2040, the growth in electric and autonomous vehicles is estimated to require 6 million tonnes of copper annually.
In this context, it is necessary to improve the recovery and recycling of copper, accelerating the transition to a more circular global economy and helping to meet expanding demand. There have been positive trends around the increased recycling of copper, with around 50% of the copper used in Europe now coming from recycling. Despite this progress, it remains the case that recycled inputs will not be able to cover the demand for copper required to support the green transition. This underlines the importance of promoting responsible production and sourcing throughout the full value chain.
Ultimately, there will need to be a significant expansion of copper operations in the coming years to fill the emerging supply gap. As production increases, the copper industry has a vital role to play in working to prevent, mitigate and remedy the negative environmental and social externalities of these operations, and to positively contribute to sustainable development in the local communities and economies within which it operates.
Through the Copper Mark assurance framework, we have been working with participants to develop their understanding and management of the ESG risks associated with their operations and move towards developing comprehensive processes to address these risks. This has included identifying gaps in training and policy awareness among staff, supporting enhanced understanding on sites about best practice production and business standards, and identifying areas for further improvement, particularly across requirements related to greenhouse gas emissions reductions, business relationships, tailings management and due diligence in supply chains.
Expanding responsible production and sourcing in the transition minerals supply chain
In October, I was pleased to address the LME Metals Seminar around setting expectations in Environmental, Sustainability and Governance (“ESG”) performance and how incorporating higher ESG standards for production should support companies’ competitiveness. These expectations are now increasingly reflected in new regulations that governments are introducing across the world, setting out clear priorities for increasing corporate transparency and more robust due diligence processes.
Much of the Copper Mark’s focus over the last three years has been around simplifying the process for companies – including copper producers, but also for operations covering other critical transition minerals such as lead, nickel, zinc and molybdenum – to understand and meet the growing demands for responsible business, production and sourcing practices.
To this end, the Joint Due Diligence Standard, developed in partnership with the International Lead Association (“ILA”), the International Zinc Association (“IZA”), the Nickel Institute (“NI”) and the Responsible Minerals Initiative (“RMI”) – and with the International Molybdenum Association (“IMOA”) as observers in the process – has helped to establish a coordinated and uniform response to responsible sourcing challenges.
The Standard is approved by the LME as a Track A standard and has been independently audited and found to be 100% OECD-aligned. Using a single Standard and framework makes it easier for producers and traders of copper, lead, nickel and zinc to ensure their compliance with the LME’s Responsible Sourcing requirements, while building on existing standards.
Both the Joint Due Diligence Standard and the full Copper Mark have been featured in the LMEpassport since September 2021. This has marked another important step in promoting and enabling greater transparency and information-sharing, both of which are essential for advancing responsible production and sourcing practices throughout the transition minerals supply chains.
Towards a unified assessment framework for transition minerals
Spurred by the LME Responsible Sourcing requirements, the Copper Mark created strong partnerships with other metals to develop an increasingly unified assessment framework for transition minerals. Most recently, this has included the Copper Mark launching its pilot implementation of the Molybdenum Mark, the Nickel Mark and the Zinc Marks. Producers of these metals are now able to use the Copper Mark assurance framework to achieve their respective “Mark”, thereby signalling their leadership in sustainability and responsible production practices.
The pilot reflects the deepening collaboration between the Copper Mark, IMOA, NI and IZA to promote responsible production and sourcing practices within the copper, molybdenum, nickel and zinc value chains. It also reflects a shared belief among the associations and the Copper Mark that a uniform approach to standards setting will significantly reduce the administrative burdens and minimise the costs of achieving and maintaining regulatory compliance.
Since the Copper Mark’s inception, our Theory of Change has always included a commitment to promote responsible business across the mineral supply chains to enable a clean energy transition. Following our announcement in September that over 20% of globally mined copper now comes from Copper Mark-assured sites, our hope and expectation is that this multi-metal collaboration will further increase the percentage of responsibly produced copper, nickel, molybdenum, and zinc available to society.
This multi-metal expansion will support the implementation of increasingly robust due diligence processes across the transition minerals supply chains, reinforcing the LME’s objectives to enhance the transparency of supply chains and embed sustainable practices. Expanding the application of enhanced ESG standards across supply chains will also be essential to supporting the transition to a low carbon global economy in a way which is responsible and contributes positively to our shared sustainable development goals.
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Guest author:
Michèle Brülhart
Michèle serves as the Executive Director of the Copper Mark since the establishment of the organization in December 2019. With over 10 years of experience working on the design, implementation and independent assessment of sustainability standards, Michèle has evaluated and assisted companies at every level of the supply chain, from raw material to end product, and across multiple materials. She was previously the Director of Innovations at the Responsible Minerals Initiative (“RMI”) and served as the Head of Auditing at RCS Global for several years. Prior to her work at RCS Global, she held roles focused on responsible sourcing at Underwriters Laboratories, the German Development Cooperation and STR Responsible Sourcing.