1. Environmental Sustainability in the Extractive Industry: The Case for Climate Change Mitigation
Dr Uwem E. Ite

2. Outline of Presentation
Sustainability and its Dimensions
Environmental Sustainability and Requirements
Overview of the Extractive Industry
Extractive Industry and Climate Change
Climate Change Mitigation: Opportunities and Options
Conclusion

3. Sustainability
Originated from environmental movement and alarmist ideas of ultimate limits to economic growth and development.
Several debates on precise definition, and different contexts of interpretation.
Concerned with welfare of future generations.
Consensus on key requirements to achieve sustainability
Economic
Social
Environmental

4. Dimensions of Sustainability

5. Environmental Sustainability
Focuses on maintaining the long-term integrity and productivity of environmental infrastructure.
Natural capital as sources and sinks.
Key requirements of environmental sustainability:
Sustainable resource use,
Sink functions,
Management of natural capital,
Precautionary principle,
Institutional framework.

6. Extractive Industry: An Overview
Mining
Iron and Steel
Cement
Chemicals

7. Extractive Industry: An Overview (2)
Aluminium
Paper and pulp
Cement
Oil and gas

8. Extractive Industry and Sustainability
Sustainability of extractive industry is sometimes questionable.
Environmental issues are only part of the sustainability equation
Key features of extractive industry:
Little or no flexibility on site or location.
Generates large quantities of wastes - with potential to damage the environment.
Long life span of certain environmental impacts.
High risk business - sometimes with little economic benefits to help compensate for environmental damage.

9. Extractive Industry and Climate Change
Extractive industry accounts for about 30% of total global GHG emissions.
Total GHG emission from industry almost doubled between 1970 and 2010.
Global demand for industrial products likely to increase by 45%-60% by 2050 relative to production levels.
Wide ranging impacts of climate change, including:
Natural resource availability
Transport infrastructure
Water scarcity
Labour

10. Climate Change Mitigation: Opportunities and Options
Two major opportunities with specific options:
Production-related strategies i.e. improvements in industrial process efficiencies.
Demand-related strategies i.e. reduction in overall use of product material.

11. Production-related Strategies
Emission Efficiency – Reducing emission per unit of energy used.
Energy Efficiency – Improving the ratio of energy consumption to production of materials.
Material Efficiency – Reducing the amount of raw material needed to create a product.

12. Demand-related Strategies
Product-service Efficiency – Using a product for longer and more intensely.
Demand Reduction – Reducing overall demand for new product materials, by changing consumption patterns.

13. Energy Efficiency: The SPDC Afam Combined Cycle Gas Turbine (CCGT) Project
Approved and registered by the United Nations Executive Board for Climate Change as a Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) project
First registered energy efficiency project on power generation in Nigeria
Project is a 650 MW grid connected CCGT fuelled by natural gas.
An energy efficiency project demonstrating environmental sustainability through the reduction of GHG emissions from power generation.
Potential to save over 500,000 tonnes of CO2 emissions per year.

14. Conclusion
Reduction in GHG emissions requires implementation of a broad range of mitigation strategies.
Need for changes in policies that could lead to a reduction in CO2 levels:
Fuel switch (e.g. from coal to gas) to slow down rate of CO2 accumulation
Effective and meaningful pricing on CO2 emissions
Support for all lower carbon technologies including carbon capture and storage and renewables
Cost of inaction will exceed cost of taking early action.