SYDNEY 1 December 2022: Today the Future Battery Industries Cooperative Research Centre (FBICRC) released our latest research report titled “Certification and sustainability assessment for battery materials; review of requirements and data commonalities report.
The report led by Rusty Langdon from UTS Sustainable Futures in collaboration with University of Melbourne, provides an overview and comparison of the various sustainability reporting and disclosure schemes for the mining sector and aims to quantify and improve the environmental impacts of mining battery materials.
In the global race to decarbonise, significant risks exist in terms of environmental, social and governance (ESG) aspects associated with mining. Those risks are currently managed through a complex mix of voluntary and mandatory reporting schemes, many of which share common elements that are not currently coordinated resulting in costly duplication of effort.
CEO Shannon O’Rourke said the report potentially carries global implications for the battery supply chain and offers a significant opportunity for the nation to differentiate itself.
“Australia is already a leader in ESG performance but the complex mix of environmental standards and certification schemes that modern miners navigate comes at a cost. The market cannot value ESG without common standards or traceability across the supply chain.
This report cuts through the complexity and is a step towards developing a common certification language that miners can deliver on, customers can have confidence in, and ultimately pay a premium for,” said Shannon.
As a key investor in the FBICRC, Western Australian Minister for Mines and Petroleum Bill Johnston officially launched the report at a breakfast event in Sydney.
“This project seeks to ensure the battery industry is equipped for a future where battery passports are common and responsible materials supply is a requirement,” said Minister Johnston.
The Certification Commonalities Report is complementary to our recently released “Trusted Supply Chain” report and has the potential to enable producers to charge a premium for delivering products to a common standard with traceability across the supply chain, cementing Australia’s position as a global leader in ESG across the mining industry.
The two reports are available for download here:
Development of a trusted supply chain for Australian battery minerals and products
You can read Minister Johnston’s full statement here.