Digging Deep – Which miners are facing up to the low-carbon challenge?

The report evaluates 12 major diversified miners across transition risks, physical risks, transition opportunities, and climate governance, finding that while operational emissions are improving and capital is flowing toward low-carbon commodities, significant risks persist from downstream regulation and water stress.

• The mining sector is showing progress in managing operational emissions, with 9 out of 12 assessed companies implementing measures to reduce emissions intensity.
• Capital expenditure is split between low-carbon and fossil fuel commodities: approximately 45% of CAPEX is directed toward materials like copper and nickel that benefit from low-carbon technologies, while 25% is allocated to fossil fuels, specifically oil and gas.
• The sector faces substantial value chain risks, as Scope 3 emissions from downstream customers are estimated to be an average of 10 times, and up to 30 times, higher than the companies' own operational emissions.
• Carbon pricing regulations are increasing globally, with China's emissions trading scheme (ETS) expected to be the most disruptive to commodity demand patterns; Chile has already introduced carbon pricing, with Canada and South Africa expected to follow in 2018.
• Water stress poses a significant financial and operational risk, with an estimated 27% of production and up to US$50bn in revenues likely exposed to high water stress risk by 2030.
• In the league table rankings for low-carbon readiness, Vale, Boliden, and BHP are the highest ranked, while Freeport-McMoRan, First Quantum Minerals, and Vedanta Resources are the lowest.

APA

Keogh, M. (2017). Digging Deep – Which miners are facing up to the low-carbon challenge? We Mean Business Coalition. https://www.wemeanbusinesscoalition.org/blog/digging-deep-miners-facing-low-carbon-challenge/

Chicago

Keogh, Megan. Digging Deep – Which miners are facing up to the low-carbon challenge? We Mean Business Coalition, 2017. https://www.wemeanbusinesscoalition.org/blog/digging-deep-miners-facing-low-carbon-challenge/.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Keogh |first1=Megan |title=Digging Deep – Which miners are facing up to the low-carbon challenge? |publisher=We Mean Business Coalition |date=6 July 2017 |url=https://www.wemeanbusinesscoalition.org/blog/digging-deep-miners-facing-low-carbon-challenge/ |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{keogh2017digging, author = {Keogh, Megan}, title = {{Digging Deep – Which miners are facing up to the low-carbon challenge?}}, institution = {We Mean Business Coalition}, year = {2017}, month = jul, url = {https://www.wemeanbusinesscoalition.org/blog/digging-deep-miners-facing-low-carbon-challenge/}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }