Special Issue "Sustainable Sourcing of Materials Required for a Resource Efficient and Low-carbon Society"

Our modern economy relies on the quality and availability of natural resources. Driven by population growth and economic development, future demand for natural resources is expected to further increase in coming decades. Natural resources such as metals, non-metallic minerals, and biomass will be an important part of society’s future material mix as countries increasingly transition towards resource efficient and greenhouse gas neutral economies. These materials are also fundamental to meet ecological and socio-economic targets within the Sustainable Development Agenda of the United Nations. For instance, they have a fundamental role in renewable energy technologies, new building materials and infrastructure, modern communication systems, and low-carbon transportation. However, some materials are largely supplied from countries with poor governance and the future availability of these materials could be threatened by various factors. The resource criticality studies developed in recent years have explored economic, geo-political, and technological factors that could affect the raw materials’ security of supply. Environmental and social pressures can also play a role in the materials security of supply and present obstacles to a future transition to a low-carbon society. For instance, conflicts can prevent access to mineral deposits; accidents and environmental damages compromise public acceptance and can hinder future extraction operations. From the industry perspective, companies increasingly evaluate and report environmental and social performance. Responsible sourcing of minerals and supply chain due diligence are sometimes integrated in companies’ risk management strategies. In this special issue we would like to gather papers aiming at: • Monitoring and assessing social and environmental pressures in material supply chains (e.g., with social and environmental life-cycle assessment) • Exploring the role of social and environmental pressures in resource security of supply assessments • Discussing how social and environmental consideration could be increasingly considered in future-looking scenarios of materials needed in the increasing transition to resource efficient and greenhouse gas neutral societies • Reflecting on certification and other approaches for responsible sourcing of resources • Discussing supply chain due diligence approaches and their implementation from a company perspective

MANCINI Lucia;  NUSS Philip; 

2018-09-27

MDPI

JRC111445

2079-9276,   

http://www.mdpi.com/journal/resources/special_issues/materials_sustainable,    https://publications.jrc.ec.europa.eu/repository/handle/JRC111445,