Unpacking the ICMM Energy Transition Minerals Report

As mining moves to focus on the green energy transition, concerns about project sustainability have been loud.

Producing these clean-energy materials is an intensive process, resulting in contributions to greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.

However, a newly published study by ICMM, in collaboration with Wood Mackenzie, reports that the contribution to GHG emissions is not as high as previously believed.

A changing industry

The past decade has demonstrated the need for significant climate action, with rising global temperatures, increasing numbers of floods and record-breaking wildfires occurring all over the world. In response to this increasing volatility, more individuals and businesses are changing their ways. As the world transitions to a more sustainable one, with demand for renewables increasing every day, the mining industry is finding itself central to the movement.

At COP28, leaders agreed on the aim to triple renewable energy capacity by 2030, meaning the demand for critical minerals and metals is growing significantly. As a result, the mining industry is moving towards greater extraction and production of these valuable materials. 

However, as ICMM points out, "despite the sector’s importance to the energy transition, up-to-date, publicly available and industrywide data has been lacking." In response, it has surveyed leaders and analysed emissions data to explore a thorough understanding of how much the mining and metals industry contributes to global GHG emissions.

The report explores Scope 1 and 2 GHG emissions from 1,700 facilities across 14 commodities. This is representing 87% of global production, so ICMM has modelled emissions using averages for the remaining 13% production volume.

"Despite our sector's importance to the energy transition, up-to-date, publicly available and industry-wide data has been lacking, contributing to the circulation of misleading estimates," says Dr Emma Gagen, Director of Data and Research at ICMM.

"ICMM's Global Mining & Metals GHG Emissions Dataset provides data and data-driven insights to underpin more informed dialogue about the sector's contribution to global GHG emissions while providing the building blocks for sustainable development and the global energy transition.

“Like all large-scale datasets, this one will evolve, but establishing a transparent, industry-wide baseline is a necessary starting point. Inferred implications from the Dataset are provided separately from the data itself to allow others to be curious and make their own judgements. We invite all interested stakeholders to engage with the data, provide feedback or supplementary data to help improve its coverage, and collaborate with us further."

Sector concerns

In 2024, the global mining and metals sector accounted for 11% of total GHG emissions. Of this, 3% were from mining activities and 8% was from metal production. When examining scope activity, 93% of these emissions were Scope 1 and 7% were Scope 2. 

Within the sector, the largest contributors were steel production (55%), coal mining (23%) and aluminium production (15%). At present, approximately 70% of the world's steel is produced by highly carbon-intensive, blast furnace-based processes. 

Between 2020 and 2024, GHG emissions from mining and metal production have increased 3%, due to both the intensity of mining and the growth in global demand for the commodities.Despite this, non-coal mining accounted for only 0.54% of global GHG emissions in 2024. In comparison, fugitive emissions from coal accounts for 2.46% of global GHG emissions.

There is an uneven distribution of GHG emissions from mining and metals, with 80% of emissions being generated in Asia. This resembles the country's role as a major primary mining centre and as the dominant processing hub for most global commodities.

Steel production is responsible for most GHG emissions across regions, particularly in Europe (93%), but Africa and the Middle East are significantly affected by emissions from aluminium production – making up 40% of the regions GHG emissions.

Looking ahead

As more material is needed for electric vehicles, solar and wind turbines, the demand for aluminium and steel is growing. These major contributors to the industry's GHG emissions means that the sector must act responsibly to meet demand while also reducing its carbon footprint. 

For steel, global decarbonisation is moving the sector away from energy-intensive blast furnace-basic oxygen furnace (BF-BOF) crude steel production, towards lower emissions solutions using electric arc furnace (EAF) methods. These solutions take a more sustainable approach, making use of more scrap volumes and reducing reliance on coal consumption.

As aluminium smelting is electricity-intensive, the decarbonisation move for this is by using more renewable electricity in the processes. 

The transition to renewable energy across the industry will be a significant step towards sector decarbonisation, with a greater opportunity for vehicle electrification and the use of renewable energy sources across operations.