The International Council on Mining and Metals (ICMM) has released a ground breaking report that highlights the vital role of the mining sector in the green energy transition.
The new Global Mining & Metals Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Emissions Dataset provides a definitive look at the sector’s 2024 performance. The data reveals that mining for critical minerals is not a major source of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.
In fact, non-coal mining accounted for a mere 0.54 per cent of global GHG emissions in 2024. By comparison, fugitive emissions from coal, which must be phased out to meet global climate goals, account for 2.46 per cent of global GHG emissions.
According to the report from the industry body, mining only accounts for 3 per cent of global emissions, while metal processing amounted to 8 per cent of scope 1 and 2 emissions in 2024.
Steel and aluminium production, along with coal mining, were the largest sources of GHG emissions overall, together responsible for 93 per cent of sector scope 1 and 2 emissions in 2024.
The report notes that approximately 80 per cent of these emissions originate in Asia, a reflection of the region’s dominance in both primary extraction and heavy processing facilities.
This concentration underscores the urgent need for decarbonising steelmaking and aluminium smelting to move the needle on global climate goals.
ICMM said publishing the data set will strengthen the collective understanding of the mining and metals sector’s contribution to GHG emissions and support informed decision-making for policymakers, investors and all relevant stakeholders.
“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,” said Dr Emma Gagen, Director of Data and Research at ICMM.
“Like all large-scale datasets, this one will evolve, but establishing a transparent, industry-wide baseline is a necessary starting point.”
