Mining faces an historic reckoning: the time is now for leaders with courage to step up

A statement by Melissa Fourie of the Centre for Environmental Rights arguing that the mining industry must undergo a radical reconceptualisation to address human rights abuses, environmental destruction, and the urgent need to reduce coal use to limit global warming.

• The mining industry is criticized for ignoring the human costs of its operations, including labor exploitation, the destruction of community livelihoods, and the inequitable distribution of profits. Affected communities are increasingly organizing to demand legal overhauls and are successfully litigating for the right to refuse mining projects.
• Mining causes severe environmental damage by polluting air and water and sterilizing soil. Coal mines specifically contribute to global warming both as direct emitters of greenhouse gases and by supporting the development or continued operation of coal power plants.
• To limit the average global temperature increase to below 1.5°C, global coal usage must decrease by 80% within the next ten years, which would fundamentally impact the electricity, steel, and cement industries.
• Failure to adjust current practices could lead to catastrophic temperature increases in the South African interior, with projections of 2 to 3°C by 2050 and 6 to 7°C by 2100, severely impacting agriculture, human health, and mining.
• The author calls for a transition from an unsustainable extractive model to one that prioritizes mineral recycling, protects biodiversity and water sources, and treats affected people as equal stakeholders. This includes evaluating whether the end use of a mineral justifies the opportunity cost of its extraction.

APA

Fourie, M. (2021). Mining faces an historic reckoning: the time is now for leaders with courage to step up. Centre for Environmental Rights. https://cer.org.za/news/mining-faces-an-historic-reckoning-the-time-is-now-for-leaders-with-courage-to-step-up-2

Chicago

Fourie, Melissa. Mining faces an historic reckoning: the time is now for leaders with courage to step up. Centre for Environmental Rights, 2021. https://cer.org.za/news/mining-faces-an-historic-reckoning-the-time-is-now-for-leaders-with-courage-to-step-up-2.

Wikipedia

{{cite press release |last1=Fourie |first1=Melissa |title=Mining faces an historic reckoning: the time is now for leaders with courage to step up |publisher=Centre for Environmental Rights |date=13 January 2021 |url=https://cer.org.za/news/mining-faces-an-historic-reckoning-the-time-is-now-for-leaders-with-courage-to-step-up-2 |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@misc{fourie2021mining, author = {Fourie, Melissa}, title = {{Mining faces an historic reckoning: the time is now for leaders with courage to step up}}, publisher = {Centre for Environmental Rights}, year = {2021}, month = jan, url = {https://cer.org.za/news/mining-faces-an-historic-reckoning-the-time-is-now-for-leaders-with-courage-to-step-up-2}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }