Operational Group 3 Briefing paper February 2013

Transcription

1 Operational Group 3 Briefing paper February 2013 Objective and scope The scope of Operational Group 3 is to improve Europe's raw materials regulatory framework conditions, knowledge base and infrastructure. Its aims are to facilitate the exchange of best practices among Member States, and to enhance the EU knowledge base in order to improve the sustainable and safe supply of raw materials to EU economy and society. Actions in the area of sustainable supply of raw materials that should be achieved by the European Innovation Partnership (EIP) by 2020 include: A regulatory framework for primary raw materials that would provide stable and competitive supply from EU sources and will facilitate public acceptance. A network of Research, Education and Training Centres on sustainable raw materials management organized as Knowledge and Innovation Community (KIC). A raw materials knowledge base with raw materials flows and trends, using standardised instruments for the survey of resources/reserves and a map of industrially relevant raw materials covering primary and secondary raw materials. Background Work Package 3 deals principally with the second pillar of the Raw Materials Initiative (RMI). The second pillar (Fostering the supply from EU sources) consists of two areas of intervention, namely: exchange of best practices and the EU knowledge base. This is further highlighted by an EC Communication Tackling the Challenges in Commodity Markets and on Raw Materials in In the context of this Work Package, the focus is on specific aspects of raw material access, land use by competing industries and the knowledge, information, reporting, auditing, skills, training and related actions that permit sound and sustainable management of these resources. Land use may encompass use of brown-field sites as well as virgin land. These actions will help promote greater EU production of raw materials, and ultimately reduce the current levels of EU import dependency for many metals, minerals and other materials (see Table 1). Table 1: Metrics for EU import dependency of raw materials (%) Raw material Import dependency Raw material Import dependency Natural rubber 100% Bulk metals 57% Speciality metals 96% Industrial minerals 46% Iron ore 85% Wood 11% Critical raw materials* 77% Paper 9% * As defined by the EU. These 14 raw materials include a combination of high-tech metals, bulk metals, as well as industrial minerals Source: European Commission (2010), Critical Raw Materials for the EU & some additional references Figure includes virgin and recycled paper Source: CEPI Of particular relevance to Work Package 3 is the work of the Ad Hoc Working Group on Exchanging Best Practice on Land Use Planning, Permitting and Geological Knowledge Sharing established by DG-ENTR and the Raw Materials Supply Group. It consisted of a mix of experts from national and regional ministries, geological surveys, extractive and downstream industries and universities, and was chaired by the Commission. The resultant best practices report identifies the main elements of particular importance in promoting in extractive industries, i.e. defining a National Minerals Policy, setting up a land use planning policy and putting in place a process to authorize minerals exploration and exploitation. 1 1 DG-ENTR (2010), Improving framework conditions for extracting minerals for the EU: exchanging best practice on land use planning, permitting and geological knowledge sharing; Ad-hoc Working Group Report 1

2 Minerals-based sector The minerals-based sector supplies a large range of materials to the economy which are used in products across all sectors, and which underpin many industries. Within the EU Member States there is a variety of approaches to managing the exploration and extraction of these; the key factors are discussed below. National minerals policy Within the EU, a number of Member States have adopted minerals policies and strategies as a follow up to the Raw Materials Initiative. 2 An EU Working Group has surveyed these different policies, identifying little consistency across the Member States both in terms of minerals policy and minerals planning policy. 3 Indeed, no uniformity between definitions of these policies was found. The survey of Member States found that policy was typically a combination of different legislation, codes and guidance - often at different levels of maturity. Some examples of different policy approaches include: The Austrian Minerals Resources Plan, which has a coherent national strategy including collaboration between the National Geological Survey of Austria, the Austrian Mining Association and the Austrian Academy of Sciences to provide detailed resource maps for up to 3,500 materials. 4 Germany: The government activities at Federal level are concentrated on giving firm and effective backing to the private sector s efforts to secure raw materials; specific measures follow the principle of sustainable development. 5 The government backing particularly involves support for the private sector in the form of the instruments of raw materials policy, support for research, and a joined-up international raw materials policy which takes account of objectives of foreign, economic and development policy. Greece: the National Minerals Policy document identifies the main axes for the exploitation of the country's mineral resources 6. The Greek National Policy (NP) for the strategic planning and exploitation of the mineral resources acknowledges the importance of the Mineral Raw Materials that contribute to progress, ensure a high living standard and create a competitive national and regional economy respecting the principle of sustainable development. Finland s Minerals Strategy 7 outlines the long-term goals for management and sustainable supply of raw materials. Strengthening Finland s minerals policy is a clear priority, with actions for providing a clearly defined and stable framework, financial incentives for development and linking with the EU through implementing the objectives of the RMI. Within the Strategy, specific aims for developing particular minerals deposits/mines in Finland are outlined. The evolution of the policy landscape in this way is a consequence of specific political and geological circumstances, and therefore prescriptive measures at an EU level were not deemed appropriate, whether they be on planning permission or environmental permitting. Nonetheless it may be important to develop a minerals policy scorecard. This might include at least three policy element themes, as outlined by the European Commission Best Practice document for adoption by Member States: 8 1. National Minerals Policies, including legal framework and informational framework, 2. Minerals Policy Planning, and 3. Sustainable Minerals Policy (incorporating the economic, environmental and social pillars). 2 These include; Austria,Finland, France, Germany, Greece, the Netherlands, Portugal and United Kingdom. See: NB This list is not exhaustive. 3 DG-ENTR (2010), Improving framework conditions for extracting minerals for the EU: exchanging best practice on land use planning, permitting and geological knowledge sharing; Ad-hoc Working Group Report DG-ENTR (2010), Improving framework conditions for extracting minerals for the EU: exchanging best practice on land use planning, permitting and geological knowledge sharing; Ad-hoc Working Group Report 2

3 Example of Minerals Policy projects are: POLINARES - FP7 project ( ) under Socio-economic Sciences & Humanities. This project (Policy for Natural Resources) focussed on global challenges faced with respect to access to oil, gas and mineral resources over the next 20 years and proposed solutions for the various policy actors, including the EU. POLINARES was designed to help identify the main global challenges relating to competition for access to resources, and to propose new approaches to collaborative solutions. SARMa - SEE project ( ) under Transnational Co-operation Programme South East Europe project under Priority: Protection and Improvement of the Environment (Promote energy and resources efficiency). This project (Sustainable Aggregates Resource Management) dealt with developing a common approach to (a) sustainable aggregates resource management (SARM) and (b) sustainable supply mix (SSM) planning, at three scales: regional, national and transnational. Land-use planning policy Land use is a key issue for EU minerals policy. Public acceptance for more mining activity within Europe has been identified by a number of stakeholders as a topic needing to be addressed within the EIP on Raw Materials. Acceptance is often a local issue, with concerns raised by local communities proximal to exploration and mining projects. In part it is related to the topic of environmental, social and legal mining licenses which can be a particular bottleneck for new projects. By contrast, best practice documents highlight the need for land-use planning to take place at a high level (national or regional) with consideration of long periods (20 years and more). However, it is also clear that decisions should be based on sound information regarding geology, long term regional demand and local considerations. A further issue relates more specifically to competition for land between uses such as mining versus those for agriculture, tourism, eco-protection or urban areas. The demands on land can be highly competitive embracing these uses, demands for roads, buildings and infrastructure, and potential conflicts with mineral extraction needs. Given that minerals deposits are very much location-specific, the promotion of greater minerals extraction in Europe may have the effect of exacerbating these tensions. It is likely that access to land for minerals will compete with other uses, which will require an enhanced framework for trading off decisions on exploitation or conservation. Balancing these issues requires that land-use planning policy for raw materials is distinct from, but connected with, national minerals policy. Authorization and permitting process for minerals exploration and extraction Obtaining permits for authorisation and licencing for minerals exploration and extraction is generally a lengthy and expensive process. Various legal requirements need to be addressed which may come from national- or EU-level legislation. 9 Across the Member States a variety of approaches and requirements have been identified. Examples of best practice have been identified which can speed up and simplify the process. The key element of the application process identified was understanding and certainty of what needs to be provided to receive authorisation. Other elements of best practice include: involvement of key stakeholders at an early stage publicising information about relevant minerals legislation and regulations forming a single administrative process ( one-stop-shop ) for authorisation to speed up the process the development of parallel assessment procedures to speed up the process (this method has the advantage of requiring less co-ordination than the one-stop-shop approach). Knowledge base With respect to minerals, a number of activities are under way in response to the need for a more holistic and co-ordinated approach to materials use planning. This will underpin actions related to the other areas. At a high level, the European Intelligence Network on Raw Materials will facilitate access to raw 9 Examples at an EU level include; Directive on Management of Waste from Extractive Industries, Landfill of Waste Directive, Habitats Directive, and IPPC Directive. 3

4 materials information sources and promote collaboration amongst experts for the purposes of improved decision making on raw materials (FP7 NMP Coordination and support action call, to start in 2013). Examples of Knowledge base projects include: PROMINE - (Nano-particle products from new mineral resources in Europe) FP7 NMP Innovative concepts and processes for strategic mineral supply and for new high added value mineral-based products ( ) see Figure 1. EuroGeoSource - EU Information and Policy Support System for Sustainable Supply of Europe with Energy and Mineral Resources, with the objective of developing EU Information and Policy Support System for Sustainable Supply of Europe with Energy and Mineral Resources ( ). EURARE - (Development of a sustainable exploitation scheme for Europe's Rare Earth ore deposits) FP7 NMP New environmentally friendly approaches in minerals processing. Figure 1: Geological map showing the main mineral deposits of Europe Source: PROMINE FP7 Project, November 2011 Key issues arising from these initiatives relate to the fact that data resides across Europe (and not all nations have participated in the projects) in multiple organisations, public and private, and addressing different uses and priorities; further, different standards of data collection prevail across different countries which may not be compatible with global or European standards. This hampers both the comparison of diverse data-sets and attempts to integrate in a common system. There is also a need to improve the quantity and quality of skilled experts in the EU to sustain competition with third countries, e.g. through training programmes. Investors, regulators and policy makers require a knowledge base of EU resources to be built, including primary and secondary raw materials (terrestrial and marine) and estimates of the availability of 4

5 resources in urban mines (linked to the knowledge base of waste), by using systems such as Global Monitoring for Environment and Security (GMES). Such a knowledge base would have standardised comparable data for reporting in a harmonised way, while developing translation codes to enable relevant organisations to transform the data for specific needs. This would require resource inventory systems and flexible planning tools for precise information on the quantity and quality of resources. The following recommendations have been made by the EC Best Practices Working Group: Standardise the language used by Geological Surveys, e.g. reserve and resource definitions. Use common European statistics sheets e.g. uniform reporting system to support EU minerals intelligence. Develop and aggregate data reporting into an EU-wide database of harmonized statistics. These measures will improve networking between relevant organizations in Member States. The DG- ENTR project Study on Structured Statistical Information on the Quality and Quantity of the EU Raw Materials Deposits will investigate the feasibility of standards harmonisation, and how to link a number of data sources and tools. Its immediate aims are to produce a web-based directory of European data resources in key materials, and a roadmap to further harmonisation and integration of data collection to recommended standards. However, this initiative is limited to the needs of a specific user base (land use planners and investors). In addition the following recommendations are made by the Working Group on improving networking: Improved data and information at EU level on global minerals production, imports and exports etc. Development of a 3D data and knowledge base for the EU to support wider actions. Reinforced links with third country organisations such as GSC, USGS and JOGMEC. Forest-based sector Forests provide a range of products and services; principally wood and its derived products structural timber, paper and paperboard, bio-fuels, etc. EU forests are sustainably managed: all European countries have policies and practices requiring reforestation (by regeneration or replanting) after final harvesting and Europe has a positive net change in forest area. The EU has gained 5.1 million hectares of forest and other forest land since 2005 and million hectares since Increasingly, forests are voluntarily third-party certified for sustainable management practices; Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) and Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification (PEFC) schemes being the most prominent. About 90% of the wood processed in the EU is sourced from European forests. The net creation of afforested land offers further scope for CO 2 capture and storage. The benefits of harvested wood products as carbon stores compared to CO 2 -intensive alternatives have scope in sustainable construction. However, according to the EUWood 10 project, the rising demand for wood for use in biofuels poses a threat to this position. It was estimated that EU supply of wood from forests and other sources will meet or exceed demand until 2015 or However, this does not allow for increasing demand from renewable energy which, without intervention, will leave a deficit in supply. Increasing supply, however, is not straightforward. Although only about 65% of annual wood growth is removed annually from EU forests, 11 to increase the use of the existing supply would mean increased costs from both more difficult working conditions and smaller-bole, lower-quality, non-forest based wood. Workable supply can be increased, for example, through enhanced silvicultural management (utilisation of higher-growth species, refining of plant material, intensification of thinning), better knowledge of forest ownership, new inventory techniques for determination of forest resources and decision-support systems for optimised supply chain management, including the cascaded use of wood; supported by legal and fiscal measures, efficient harvesting systems and trained workforce DG ENER (2010), EU wood - Real potential for changes in growth and use of EU forest; by Mantau et al; (pp 38 et al.) 12 European Commission (2010) Good practice guidance of sustainable mobilisation of wood in Europe 5

6 The EUWood project reports a range of policy options to enable better management of the competing demands on forest use to address both the supply of wood and its use. These options encompass technical, social and economic aspects, and are based on sound evidence. High level options include: Increasing supply: through mobilising wood from existing forests, and from outside the forest. Reducing demand: through promotion of energy efficiency and alternative renewables to wood, and more efficient use of wood in industry and for energy. Improve knowledge and understanding through increased information and statistics on: analysis of material mixes and flows of wood materials, e.g. in consumer markets or energy uses examining the impact on the environment (e.g. biodiversity, land-use change) monitoring of removals from forests, and identifying supply from other wooded land the economic supply curve of production, taking into account location, wood component etc. Many trends outside the sector have an influence on it, with wood supply not directly considered within wider policies. It is necessary to monitoring these framework conditions to understand the wider implications for wood supply, and to tailor responses to developing circumstances. There are many complex trade-offs which need to be resolved to define the path forward, including wood supply vs. biodiversity and wood supply vs. carbon sequestration in forests. The FP7 Era-Net action WoodWisdom-Net (WW-Net) and COST action in the area of Forests, their Products and Services (FPS) were created to develop and strengthen EU-level co-operation in research on wood material science and engineering. Conclusions The non-technical Work Package 3 deals primarily with the second pillar of the RMI, consisting of two areas of intervention: Exchange of Best Practices, and Developing EU Knowledge Base. Exchange of Best Practices in particular supports: identification and exchange of best practices in the Member States in: developing minerals policy through an updated benchmark analysis, education, and public relations actions that are also targeted on local acceptance and involvement land-use planning for minerals including the consideration of minerals in marine spatial plans facilitating the process for authorisation of minerals permits through a best practice analysis matrix that would include a summary with explanation, stable and foreseeable legislation, deregulation (smart regulation), clear and transparent rules, and translation into English environmental issues such as Environmental Impact Assessments (EIAs) or supply of primary and secondary raw materials. industry focused initiatives on: promotion of the application of the existing Best Available Technique documents for the extractive industry inside and outside the EU implementation of standardisation and/or certification schemes for mining operations to improve transparency, and reduce entry cost for mining industry through developing voluntary pan-european operational guidelines for sustainable mining operation in view of achieving public acceptance of mining activities. EU Knowledge Base action includes: Building an innovative knowledge base of EU resources, including: primary and secondary raw materials (on land and in the marine environment) estimations of resource availability, including urban mines (linked to the waste knowledge base) Using systems as GMES to serve investors, regulators and policy makers Such a knowledge base would have standardised all the data for reporting, which is comparable and specific, while involving different relevant organisations, which should have a translation codes in place to transform this to the specific needs. 6

7 Improving the quantity and quality of skilled experts in the EU to sustain the competition with the third countries. The Knowledge and Innovation Community (KIC) on raw materials and training on the job, using a potential of the pilot actions, will help meet this need. Authors: David Parker & Adrian Chapman, Oakdene Hollins 15/02/13 Checked: Peter Willis, Oakdene Hollins 15/02/13 Disclaimer: This document is only to facilitate the discussion in the Operational group, it is neither exhaustive nor does it represent the official opinion of the European Commission 7