Innovation does not come easily to the mining sector.

In an already conservative business, the costs and risks of true innovation can be hard to justify. However, with companies needing to address inefficiencies in their operations to stay competitive, while ensuring they maintain their social license to operate, it is clear that mining needs to get innovative.

IGF recently released a report, Innovation in Mining: Report to the 2018 International Mines Ministers Summit, which shows how innovation can take many forms. This includes core innovations optimizing existing assets, products or services; adjacent innovations that incrementally expand a business in new areas; and transformational innovations that represent new breakthroughs and inventions for the industry.

Renewable energies—such as solar, wind and geothermal—represent a significant opportunity for clean innovation for the mining sector: the chance for companies to simultaneously reduce their operating costs and their environmental footprint. The broad range of environmental impacts from mining necessitates new, innovative technologies and techniques across a range of areas of operation, including mine site design, production, closure, and chemical and water use.

There are many exciting examples of innovation in the mining sector. Let’s take a look at two that specifically show how renewable energy in the mining sector is benefitting communities.

Moving towards solar energy: The case of B2Gold in Namibia

For mining companies operating in Namibia—the world’s second sunniest country—offsetting fossil fuels with solar energy makes economic sense. This is what mining company B2Gold has done through their 7-megawatt solar power plant at its Otjikoto mine in Namibia. Working with Caterpillar on this project, B2Gold hopes to reduce the site’s reliance on heavy fuel oil and improve its social license to operate by using photovoltaic solar modules and micro-grid technology to generate and distribute solar power.

The system has been constructed as a hybrid energy model in which energy is drawn from the cheapest source at any given time. For example, a connection to the traditional grid allows for the use of traditional electricity at off-peak hours, to take advantage of cheaper night-time tariffs, while solar and heavy fuel oil will power the site during the daytime hours.

B2Gold is exploring options for the project to continue providing power to local communities after the mine closes, and how proceeds from the solar project can fund local development and conservation initiatives, including supporting the creation and management of a new national park near the mine site.

Clean technology contributing to local development: The case of SunMine in Canada

Innovation is not only necessary when a mine is in operation. When faced with the question of what to do with a fully reclaimed mine concentrator site on the outskirts of Kimberley in Western Canada, the municipality worked with a mix of partners to convert the site into a large-scale commercial solar power station called SunMine.

The project, which began production in 2015, is not only the province’s largest solar field, it is also Canada’s largest solar tracking facility. The energy produced on-site contributes directly to the province’s energy grid.

Renewable energies—such as solar, wind and geothermal—represent a significant opportunity for clean innovation for the mining sector: the chance for companies to simultaneously reduce their operating costs and their environmental footprint. 

Beyond the innovation of converting a rehabilitated mine site into a solar energy project, SunMine is also a great example of collaboration. The former owners of the site provided the land and site infrastructure, as well as CAD 2 million toward the project. The Province of British Columbia contributed CAD 1 million through its EcoSmart Foundation. BC Hydro also purchases the power going into the grid, and the Columbia Basin Trust and Southern Interior Development Initiative Trust both contributed additional funding and assistance.

The project has the local community’s full support and helped develop local skills in engineering and renewables that could be applied elsewhere.

It’s difficult to say what the future holds for innovation in the mining sector, given the rapid pace of change currently being experienced by those involved in mining. What is clear, however, is a growing trend for mining companies to embrace renewable energy in their operations at every stage possible, to not only benefit themselves but local communities as well.

To learn more about innovation in mining, please read IGF's report, Innovation in Mining: Report to the 2018 International Mines Ministers Summit.

What do Hawaii, Kelowna, Baltimore and Winnipeg have in common?

Not much, you might think. But actually, each of these places is working in their own way on a system to track how well their citizens are doing against specific indicators.

Using indicators to track progress is an integral part of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which are part of an international framework agreed by world leaders in 2015, aiming to end poverty, fight inequality and stop climate change.

The SDGs recognize that sustainability is a universal goal and that all countries and communities can play an important role in achieving this agenda.   

IISD recently sat down with four representatives from initiatives who want to localize the SDGs in their communities in North America. We wanted to understand how the SDGs can be used at a local level, how these initiatives have moved forward, what impacts have been seen, and if these communities had advice for others who want to integrate the SDGs into their local planning and sustainability work.

To watch a recording of the conversation, click here, and to read a news story on the conversation, click here.

Rating communities using scorecards

Everyone loves a little healthy competition, and nothing works better than a scorecard to see how one community stacks up against another.

The British Columbia Council for International Cooperation and the Global Empowerment Coalition of the Central Okanagan initiated a SDG Scorecards project to show how communities in the province are progressing toward SDG targets.

The Scorecards provide a snapshot of progress, helping communities and citizens identify areas where they excel and where improvement is needed. The comparison with other local municipalities also allows communities and groups to share knowledge with each other about how to achieve results. The ratings are also a way to encourage participation by governments, local residents and organizations.

To ensure the initiative progresses, organizers connected with their local community councils to illustrate to them how the Scorecard initiative supports local planning efforts.

What have they learned?

• To measure progress, we want to see changes in the numbers. That means improving the trends of the indicators we are tracking.
• Local data can be difficult to obtain.
• Data does not always tell the whole story. It is therefore important to work with a diverse group of organizations and actors to get the whole story and put the numbers into perspective.

Mapping local data against global goals

The University of Baltimore and the Baltimore Neighbourhood Indicator Alliance (BNIA) have been collecting data in local communities since 2000. After the SDGs were adopted, BNIA compared their locally developed community indicators to the SDGs to identify overlap and gaps between the two indicator sets. This process provided an opportunity to show other cities what they have in common and the great advantage there is in connecting to other communities and learning from each other.

Moving forward, BNIA will be reviewing the City of Baltimore’s Sustainability plan and placing this within the global framework—an impactful way to frame the existing priorities of a city within a global perspective. BNIA is also working with the Baltimore office of Sustainability to connect the city’s ongoing work to the larger sustainability framework.

What have they learned?

• Many cities are just starting to recognize that the SDGs are key to communicating their stories to the outside world.
• All cities have similar issues regardless of where they are in the world.
• It is helpful to map existing efforts onto the SDGs to show priorities under this larger framework and show how your community is working toward this broader goal.

Tracking metrics that are culturally appropriate

Hawaii Green Growth’s Aloha+ Challenge is seen as a local framework for SDG achievement. It’s a grassroots initiative that has identified locally and culturally appropriate indicators and metrics that are tracked on an online dashboard. 

For the Aloha+ Challenge, the SDGs are a framework that remind Hawaiians that, in their culture, sustainability and holistic thinking are embedded in traditional life and can be revived in current times to create a more sustainable Hawaii.

The SDGs recognize that sustainability is a universal goal and that all countries and communities can play an important role in achieving this agenda.   

By using the “local-global” lens, attention can be focused on local issues to push for further support for these types of initiatives in North America. In addition, for an island state like Hawaii, there is an added importance to share the SDG message, as only a global effort can help reduce the island’s risk from rising sea levels and the impacts of climate change.

What have they learned?

• The SDG framework can lift up local initiatives and priorities to create a broader network of action.
• Public-private partnerships are key to connecting innovation with governance and leadership so that efforts are ongoing, regardless of who is currently in power.

Using indicators as part of community infrastructure

A partnership of the International Institute for Sustainable Development and the United Way of Winnipeg, Peg is the City of Winnipeg’s Community indicator system.

Peg currently tracks and publishes over 60 local indicators—from childhood mortality to recycling rates—to measure the city’s progress. A new initiative aims to align Peg’s current indicators with the SDGs to further inspire Winnipeggers to create a more sustainable city.

For Peg, the SDG framework helps to give the work a broader perspective and place Winnipeg within a larger and more complex system. This work also helps link Peg to a larger network of communities across Canada, enabling comparisons and shared learning.

The next step is to transform the current digital platform to integrate the SDGs into the process. The new platform will ensure that local sources of community data can be integrated into the framework, and further efforts will be made to make clear connections between the data being publicized and activities happening in the community.

What have they learned?

• We need to engage and consult with community actors in order to leave no one behind and ensure there is ownership by the community.
• Community indicator systems should be part of the community infrastructure, there as a service to help inform decision-making.
• These systems must maintain a reputation as a neutral body that provides the data as a tool to inform decisions and next steps.

With mayors across the United States pledging to collaborate to uphold the Paris Climate Agreement and New York City unilaterally taking on Big Oil, it seems like subnational governments south of the border are realizing the impact that a changing climate will have on their jurisdictions.

Therefore, they are taking the reins on the fight to reduce fossil fuel reliance. But what about here in Canada?

Manitoba seemed to be sending a clear sign that it was serious about reducing carbon emissions by banning coal and petroleum coke for space heating—the first such jurisdiction in North America to do so. All coal users were required to have a plan in place by 2014 and to have transitioned away from coal to another fuel source by the middle of last year.

Where can we find viable options to replace these fossil fuels? In Manitoba, we are surrounded by (and sometimes very literally sitting on) the answer.

Six months later, the provincial government has proposed its Made-in-Manitoba Climate and Green Plan to combat climate change, including a CAD 25 per tonne price tag on carbon.

Where can we find viable options to replace these fossil fuels? In Manitoba, we are surrounded by (and sometimes very literally sitting on) the answer.

Types of biomasses—from wood and cereal straw to cattails and grasses—are viable and abundant sources of renewable energy in the province that offer a whole host of environmental and economic benefits.

According to the recently released Manitoba Bioeconomy Atlas, there is over 5 million tonnes of biomass available in Manitoba every year from agriculture, forestry residue, and from marginal lands and roadside ditches. Some of this biomass is already being put to good use as livestock bedding, compost and energy. Much of it is wasted and much more could be used as fuel.

Using biomass for heat and energy in place of non-renewable fossil fuels reduces greenhouse gas emissions and helps us meet international commitments on climate change. Harvesting "non-traditional" biomass such as cattails also removes phosphorus, a major cause of algal blooms in lakes. If we could remove 22 per cent of crop residue from agricultural fields and 25 per cent of harvestable cattail, we could remove 2,000 to 5,000 tonnes of phosphorus from our landscape, a huge help to Lake Winnipeg.

The coal ban had an intentional grace period, allowing users to invest in new solutions that meet their needs, while researchers innovated new ways to make our environment and economy work together.

During that period, innovative solutions to harvesting, processing and using biomass were developed right here in Manitoba. If locally sourced, biomass creates jobs in the community and increases Manitoba’s energy independence. This keeps dollars in the community and grows innovation, particularly in rural communities where natural gas is unavailable and electricity is expensive.

Now we need to bolster our infrastructure and create a sustainable industry to be able to benefit from what grows all around us.

One of the biggest renewable energy installations is currently underway in Lac Brochet in northern Manitoba, with solar, geothermal and biomass—setting a precedent for energy and food independence in northern communities and proving renewable energy integration in Manitoba. Biomass technologies are being installed across Canada and the United States that have great potential for application in Manitoba, such as biogas through anaerobic digestion and ethanol fuel from gasification.

The proposed Federal Clean Fuel Standard seeks to increase the use of lower-carbon fuel—including renewable natural gas—and applies to the transportation, building and industry sectors. Removing barriers to allow biogas injection into Manitoba’s natural gas grid as a source of renewable "green" natural gas would propel the biomass industry to that elusive higher value market. We could also take a lesson from Edmonton, which gasifies landfill and biomass waste to meet provincial waste recycling priorities.

The need for a new way to fuel Manitoba is real. The stage for biomass to become a viable source of renewable energy is set. Now we need to bolster our infrastructure and create a sustainable industry to be able to benefit from what grows all around us.

Surely, that is a truly Made-in-Manitoba solution.

African governments are deploying a new development tool: growth poles aimed at kickstarting the shift from subsistence to commercial agriculture.

Over a dozen agricultural growth poles, or “agropoles,” were established in the past four years, bringing the total to 36 growth poles and 9 corridors since 2002. They cover at least 3.5 million hectares of land in 23 countries, our research has found.

What is an agricultural growth pole?

The theory behind agricultural growth poles makes a lot of sense. First, identify a potential "breadbasket." Then, develop a public-private partnership to invest in the infrastructure needed to spur agricultural transformation through roads, food storage facilities, electrification, irrigation and food processing plants. Help local farmers get access to training, financing, equipment and markets. Work with local communities to identify large tracts of land that can be farmed for commercial crops. The ultimate intended outcomes will be to increase production, reduce crop loss and create good jobs.

Why is this happening now?

Agriculture is increasingly seen as the driving force for economic transformation in Africa. In 2014 African heads of state committed to eradicating hunger and rural poverty through a transformation of African agriculture. The growth pole strategy is spearheaded by African governments, with financial and technical support from regional and multilateral organizations such as the African Development Bank, the United Nations Industrial Development Organization and the World Bank.

Are agropoles just another land grab?

The 2007–08 food crisis led to a dramatic increase in large-scale investments in agricultural land. Foreign investors gained the right to more than 50 million hectares of land—an area larger than Germany—in more than 1,500 land deals, according to the Land Matrix. Land conflicts erupted across all continents.

If done correctly, agropoles could potentially avoid many of the negative impacts associated with the ill-designed deals that became known as land grabs. But if done wrong, many of the same problems could arise.

Agriculture is increasingly seen as the driving force for economic transformation in Africa.

Do agricultural growth poles work?

It is too early to talk about the success or failure of agricultural growth zones, but there are cases where countries are facing operational constraints. A lack of investment, weak strategies, poor coordination, governance challenges, a lack of available land and insufficient considerations are some of the factors identified in our research.

What can governments do to make agricultural growth poles succeed?

We are working to strengthen the legal frameworks of agricultural growth poles.

We have also identified a number of potential risks to avoid negative outcomes—including stabilization provisions and tax incentives—and outlined three key stages in the development of a responsible agricultural growth pole: vision, design and implementation.

Engagement with local communities and small-scale farmers, particularly women, is critical at all stages of the process to ensure that they are properly consulted, participate in decision making and are integrated into new projects. Transparency is also critical at all stages. 

A clear vision

A strong agricultural development plan will help ensure the success of an agricultural growth pole. This plan must identify the types of sectors, crops and processing facilities to prioritize, and therefore the types of companies to attract. It requires the identification of land and water needs, including assessing the availability of land, water and soils, and mapping out all legitimate land users with formal and informal rights, in line with the Committee on World Food Security (CFS) Voluntary Guidelines on the Responsible Governance of Tenure of Land, Forests and Fisheries. It requires the identification of investment needs that will contribute to food security, decent employment and responsible management of natural resources, in line with the CFS Principles for Responsible Investment in Agriculture and Food Systems.

A strong design

Many investments fail for reasons that could have been identified prior to the commencement of operations. Screening of potential investments and investors does more than reduce the risk of failure—it also helps ensure the projects selected are most likely to deliver positive development benefits. The design stage requires the preparation of business feasibility studies, including commercial, financial and environmental feasibility, and the development of a business plan based on the outcome of those studies. Environmental and social impact assessments and management plans are also a necessary component of the design phase. Accessible, transparent and culturally appropriate grievance mechanisms should be implemented during the design phase to deal with concerns from employees and the local communities and to resolve disputes arising between the investor and the government or other stakeholders.

Good implementation

Implementation of agropoles, including monitoring and enforcement, can be the most challenging stage for governments because of limited resources and capacity. Setting aside a percentage of the revenue from investors can help ensure that the government and the agency responsible for the growth pole has the capacity to monitor and evaluate the project effectively. Setting out clear reporting requirements and indicators will ensure the government or agency can regularly track whether the investor is fulfilling its development and environmental obligations and its commitment to the local community. Compliance can also be strengthened through processes involving local communities and farmers.

Research released in a letter to Nature describes how a single policy instrument, fossil fuel subsidy reform (FFSR), could deliver carbon emission reductions of between 0.5 to 2 Gt, or between 1 and 4 per cent, globally by 2030.

The researchers point out that this is less (around a quarter) of the combined effort currently proposed by countries as part of the Paris Agreement of between 4-8 Gt from fossil fuels and industry. The research is novel in that it models the reform of both consumer and producer subsidies, based on available datasets.

The researchers have been methodical in using available datasets; however, these datasets have significant exclusions, notably missing many of the large-scale subsidies to coal and gas power generation and containing incomplete or missing data on subsidies to fossil fuel production in much of the world. Better datasets are urgently needed to show the full scale of fossil fuel subsidies and to support informed debate nationally and globally.

The findings are significant given that only around 15 countries (out of a total of 196) included the policy tool of FFSR within their Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) in the lead up to the Paris Agreement on climate change in 2015. To help deliver deeper, faster emissions cuts and increase ambition to stay within a temperature increase of well below 2 degrees, many more countries could now consider incorporating this policy instrument. For effective carbon emission reductions, FFSR can work alongside a suite of other strategies, such as renewable and energy efficiency goals, coal phase out, carbon taxes and emissions trading schemes.

Policy-makers, including groups such as the Friends of Fossil Fuel Subsidy Reform, have long understood the value of promoting reforms alongside targeted mitigation measures to the poor. FFSR is one of the very few policy instruments that saves governments money by reducing government spending on fossil fuels and passing this cost gradually through to consumers via a market price. Such reforms have also been linked to a shift in the delivery of state welfare from cheap fossil fuels to more sophisticated and targeted methods, such as the development of social safety nets and cash transfers. The carbon emission reductions from such a policy instrument are measured as a co-benefit (as this research and others have done), but are rarely the main reason behind reforms. Indonesia and India each saved around USD 15 billion from reforms in 2015; Indonesia reinvested these savings into regional and village priorities, poverty reduction and infrastructure programs. The paper in Nature notes that, without reform, fossil fuel subsidies would reach between USD 550 billion and 970 billion in 2030, or 1 per cent of world GDP. This is a huge lost opportunity for governments.

Other research has found that FFSR leads to an average savings of USD 93 per tonne of carbon abated across 20 countries reviewed. Compared to the abatement cost of other instruments, this is significant. A focus on the phase-out of government subsidies to producers alone found a global reduction of 37 Gt of carbon dioxide by 2050 (equivalent to the global emissions from the aviation sector over the same period).

In order to maintain emission reductions from FFSR in the long term, there must also be an overall transition away from fossil fuels and toward renewable energy that is either regulated by a strong climate agreement or delivered at the country level. One approach to supporting this is to redirect some of the funds saved from fossil fuel subsidies towards renewables and energy efficiency directly. This combination of reforms plus a SWAP and reinvestment of 30 per cent of the savings into renewables and energy efficiency could double potential emission reductions for the long term.

The research strongly adds to the evidence base that government policy-makers and intergovernmental agencies, such as the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, should include this economic policy instrument in the arsenal of tools available when it comes to fighting climate change. Another aspect that could well merit further investigation is increased taxation of fossil fuels, to account for their negative externalities and to support government investment in a sustainable future. Some estimate that a combined reform of both fossil fuel subsidies and energy taxes could lead to carbon emission reductions of between 18.1 and 22.9 per cent, as well as provide much-needed ongoing revenue streams to governments. Fiscal policy reform looks like a win-win to many.

International Day of Women and Girls in Science is February 11, 2018. To mark the occasion, let’s look back at some of Canada’s women life scientists. 

They’ve been pioneers in providing a foundation of knowledge through the sheer force of their world-class talent —going back more than a century. Their legacy has established a knowledge foundation that represents the impact of real science.

Largely unknown by Canada’s decision-makers in government, industry and even the general public, their work is unheralded by ribbon-cutting ceremonies. Their relative obscurity in Canada, then and now, appears to be the preoccupation of how budgetary decisions are made as opposed to a consideration of talent and merit.

It’s high time to give them their due:

Maud Menten

At the turn of the century, University of Toronto medical graduate Maud Menten was barred from doing independent research in Canada as part of the accepted sexism of the day.

Her discovery in Berlin in 1913 provided the first insight into how chemical reactions in every cell of our body are regulated by enzymes. The discovery enabled enzymes to be purified, modified and targeted for drug therapy for disease.

Today enzymes serve as targets for about a third of all drugs in clinical use.

Maude Abbott

Maude Abbott was a world-renowned scholar, Bishop’s University medical graduate (1894) and a McGill University medical museum curator and pathology lecturer.

Her work in 1905 on congenital heart disease is critical to modern surgery. Abbott’s stunning pathology dissections are preserved today at the McGill Maude Abbott Medical Museum and remain unsurpassed to this day.

Brenda Milner

In the middle of the 20th century, McGill’s Brenda Milner, a renowned scholar and founder of the field of neuropsychology, discovered that memory in humans is multiple and stored in several different parts of the brain.

Her discoveries in 1957 led to better treatments for a variety of brain disorders including trauma, degenerative and psychiatric diseases.

Annette Herscovics

At McGill, Annette Herscovics discovered in 1969 that thyroglobulin, a precursor to thyroid hormone, undergoes carbohydrate modifications.

This was one of the first discoveries of a class of proteins known today as “glycoproteins.” Carbohydrate addition to proteins is today known as the most abundant protein modification for all life forms on the planet.

At Harvard in 1974, Herscovics then discovered the exact mechanism for carbohydrate addition that is a universal mechanism for all organisms with nucleated cells.

Upon returning to McGill in 1981, she discovered how these modifications are relevant to human disease, including cancer.

Rose Johnstone

Herscovics’s PhD supervisor was Rose Johnstone, who made a monumental discovery at McGill in 1983.

She discovered exactly how red blood cells in our body are made from precursor cells through a previously unknown structure she named “exosomes.”

Exosomes are now recognized as a universal protein delivery mechanism used by all cells in our body. They’re actively studied by academics and industry for the understanding and treatment of cancer, autoimmune diseases and neurodegenerative diseases, including Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease.

Morag Park

At the U.S. National Cancer Institute in 1986, Morag Park’s work on mutant “MET” gene association with several different cancers led to international prominence.

Today, Park is head of the McGill Cancer Research Centre, and has extended her discoveries to breast cancer and the importance of the surrounding normal cells in tumour progression.

Janet Rossant

Janet Rossant discovered the mechanisms used by embryos to generate organs and tissues with direct relevance to childhood diseases.

Her talent was first recognized at Brock University in 1977 and was followed by recruitment to the Lunenfeld Institute in Toronto. She was then director of the Research Institute of the Hospital for Sick Kids, and is now president and scientific director of the Gairdner Foundation.

Mona Nemer

Mona Nemer is currently Canada’s Chief Scientific Adviser discovered [sic] in Ottawa how genes that regulate the development of the heart help understand heart disease.

Nada Jabado

The discoveries of Nada Jabado, a McGill physician scientist and paediatric cancer specialist, focus on how proteins are modified in cancer via the epigenome that mark the DNA in our genes to change the function of the gene.

Heidi McBride

McGill cell biologist Heidi McBride has made transformative discoveries on the role of mitochondria (the energy factory in our cells) in cancer and neurological diseases, including Parkinson’s disease.

Freda Miller

Freda Miller at the Hospital for Sick Kids in Toronto has deciphered the mechanisms used to generate neuronal circuits during development from a thin sheet of non-neuronal precursor cells.

Anne Claude Gingras

Anne Claude Gingras of the Lunenfeld-Tanenbaum Research Institute in Toronto is a specialist in “quantitative proteomics.” It’s led to enormous advances in our understanding of cell organization with direct application to disease.

Andrews, Arrowsmith and Edwards

Brenda Andrews, Cheryl Arrowsmith, and Elizabeth Edwards are internationally renowned for their discoveries at the University of Toronto.

Andrews defines the new field of systems biology to understand cell organization using robots and Artificial Intelligence and its application to disease.

Arrowsmith’s discoveries focus on cellular protein structure resolved at the atomic level to understand how chemical modifications regulate gene expression and their relevance to disease.

Edwards’ work on “bioaugmentation” through anaerobic microbes to detoxify environmental pollutants is of direct relevance to the nightmare of toxic industrial and municipal waste accumulation.

Impressive display of talent

Taken together, these discoveries represent an impressive display of talent for real science that rivals scientists anywhere in the world.

Whatever country recognizes and establishes a genuine priority to enable real science by talented women scientists, and helps them thrive in discovery research, will be rewarded enormously.

Discovery research institutes such as the Crick Institute in the U.K. gather the most talented scientists, men and women, early in their careers, when discoveries are usually made. That assures a critical mass and merit-based value system that then provides the best of the discovery researchers to go out to populate universities, research institutes and industry.

A Canadian model could—and should —focus on women scientists, since they now may be Canada’s most talented. And also its most undervalued.

John Bergeron gratefully acknowledges Kathleen Dickson as co-author.

John Bergeron, Emeritus Robert Reford Professor and Professor of Medicine at McGill, McGill University

This article was originally published on The Conversation. Read the original article.

Cape Town, the beautiful South African coastal city from which I write, is grimly counting down the days until it runs out of water.

“Day zero,” as it’s called here, when reservoir levels reach the critical level of less than 14 per cent, is currently thought to be May 11, merely weeks away.

On that day, when four million people go to turn on their water taps or showers, or flush their toilets, nothing will happen. The local government is in crisis mode and has said it will truck in water and set up 200 water distribution points, where residents can go every day to use public toilets and collect meagre rations of 25 litres apiece (that’s less water than a two-minute shower if you have old fixtures). If we’re doing the math, each collection point would service just under 20,000 people. If that sounds apocalyptic to you, you’re not alone.

It is as if someone set out to write an alarming allegory portraying civilization’s troubled future if we don’t soon change course. 

To me, it sounds like a parable about climate change. At the core of the problem is an historic three-year drought driven by climate change, but that’s not what I mean. I mean that the story of Cape Town has uncanny similarities to the story of climate change globally, complete with what threatens to be an uncomfortable ending.

Scientists have been saying for years that this day might come, but the political response has been completely dysfunctional. Local officials have ignored the warnings against allowing urban areas to rapidly become denser. When it became clear the drought was serious, they were loath to impose hard limits on water use, especially with agricultural and tourism interests lobbying hard against them, arguing that they would be bad for business. State officials accuse the national government (ruled by an opposing party) of underfunding critically needed water infrastructure. Even when it was clear that crisis was pending, the national authorities increased the Cape’s agricultural water allotment.

If they shock the rest of us to action, Cape Town’s woes may end up having some redeeming value.

Some Cape Town residents took the warnings seriously and conserved, but most didn’t. They either didn’t know about the issue, didn’t think it was their responsibility to do anything, or didn’t believe that things would ever really get bad, and so they went about their business drawing down the reservoirs.

There are staunch deniers, who even now claim the whole thing is a hoax and believe the water will not run out. There are overdue and inadequate adaptation measures (the collection points, emergency attempts to set up desalinization). And there is the frightening prospect of a rending of the social fabric if the crunch actually comes, with the poor and marginalized being the hardest hit.

To anyone that deals with climate policy, it’s all uncomfortably familiar, as if someone set out to write an alarming allegory portraying civilization’s troubled future if we don’t soon change course.

In that sense, if they shock the rest of us to action, Cape Town’s woes may end up having some redeeming value.

Aaron Cosbey is a Senior Associate at IISD and a development economist whose work focuses on climate change and energy, trade and investment law and policy, subsidies and green industrial policy. He is currently in Cape Town, South Africa at the Investing in Africa Mining Indaba to present draft guidance on local content policies for the Intergovernmental Forum on Mining, Minerals, Metals and Sustainable Development.

Working in artisanal and small-scale mining (ASM)—informal mining activities carried out using minimal technology or machinery—provides livelihoods for millions of people.

At the same time, the sector—­­which includes informal individual miners seeking a subsistence livelihood, as well as small-scale commercial mining entities—poses challenges for governments in about 80 countries where ASM continues to grow.

Informal ASM refers to operations that do not have the requisite licenses and permits required by law, but do have a social license to operate. Formalizing the sector would bring ASM’s informal income-earning activities and economies into the formal sector through legal, regulatory and policy frameworks.

Formalizing the sector would also result in the inclusion of marginalized miners throughout the process of developing, adapting and revising legal frameworks and support. If well designed, this process fosters the conditions to integrate ASM into the formal economy, potentially transforming the lives and safety of millions of people worldwide who depend on the sector.

To be successful, this process must address the key barriers associated with the sector, while also supporting and incentivizing miners to get formalized.

What are six of the key ways we can formalize ASM, to bring about potential benefits to millions?

Developing Conducive and Comprehensive Legal Frameworks

Comprehensive legislation specific to ASM needs to be developed. These legal frameworks should account for ASM’s diverse character in countries where ASM is illegal or where it is legal but unregulated. In countries where ASM is legal, reforms to existing legislation should prioritize the ASM sector for national development.

There are some important considerations to bear in mind when developing this legislation, such as licensing; access to land; gender equality; community participation; and environmental, safety and labour standards.

Providing Access to Geological Data

A lack of geological data can lead ASM miners to enter environmentally sensitive areas, creating tension between ASM miners and large-scale mining companies in the area. It can also create difficulties when requesting bank loans or other support services when ASM miners do not have geological information as collateral.

Without access to geological data, those working in the ASM sector are often left with little to drive their activities except guesswork or trial and error. This often results in low yields, loss of investment and increased environmental degradation. Mapping a country’s potential reserves and land use, and providing access to this data, is crucial to determining appropriate locations for ASM.

Benefits to small-scale miners would include more efficiency and longevity at sites, minimized environmental degradation and improved profitability.

Ensuring Access to Capital

Debt and poverty are major concerns in ASM, as informal work means miners cannot access finance given their non-legal status.

However, a certain level of capitalization is required to register and gain a concession and to buy the necessary equipment to process minerals and mine. Methods to increase access to credit and finance could include microfinance credit and savings, grants and government loan facilities.

Providing Access to Equipment

Another major challenge for ASM miners is not having the equipment nor the resources to be able to replicate or adapt mining techniques.

To increase access to equipment for those in the ASM sector, equipment should be simple in design and able to be produced locally, be affordable to individual miners, and combine both manual and mechanized processing techniques. Hire purchase loan schemes and centralized processing centres can enable alternative access to equipment.

Developing More Capacity Building

In the past, a poor understanding of the dynamics of ASM communities has led to inappropriate technologies and support services.

Capacity building can spur successful formalization within the ASM sector if training programs promote best practices and focus on practical mining-related topics and are geared towards women and their integration into the mining sector. They should be tailored to the socioeconomic characteristics of the individual mining communities, and provide education and resources on how to foster partnerships with stakeholders, including community organizations and the private sector.

Enabling Dialogue between ASM Stakeholders

Individuals within the ASM sector must be involved throughout the formalization process to ensure changes are in tune with realities on the ground.

To create long-term sustainable formalization strategies, a number of things need to be considered. These include creating a platform for positive and regular dialogue between ASM stakeholders and government to provide a conduit for consultation on changes, informing dialogue based on research on mining communities to understand the complexities of the ASM sector and establishing a co-created roadmap outlining interventions with input from various stakeholders, including non-mining ones, at all levels.

The Intergovernmental Forum on Mining, Minerals, Metals and Sustainable Development and the International Institute for Environment and Development recently launched a joint report entitled Global ASM Progress: A Review of Key Numbers and Issues.

Read more about global ASM progress and a review of key figures and issues in this report.

Pollution—of our water, soil and air—is now the biggest killer on earth.

A 2017 report in The Lancet shows that nine million people—roughly the population of New York City—die prematurely from causes related to pollution every year.

More than 80 per cent of the world's wastewater gets released straight into the environment without any treatment.

Over half of all premature deaths from pneumonia among children under the age of five are caused by indoor air pollution.

These statistics are staggering, and they don’t stop there. Pollution is a universal and mounting problem—no country is immune.

In Canada, pollution cost families, businesses and governments at least $39 billion in 2015.

Last month, government representatives from more than 100 countries met in Nairobi, Kenya at the United Nations Environment Assembly to come up with a global political declaration of actions to fight pollution in all its many forms, with an eye towards a “pollution-free planet."

The declaration aims to collect commitments to end pollution and safely manage chemicals and waste.

So as the United Nations calls on governments, businesses and civil society groups to #beatpollution, what can we as individuals do?

A lot, as it turns out. We can all make a difference with just a few small actions:

1 | Choose planet-friendly products

You may have noticed more products such as soaps and detergents on the shelves that advertise themselves as phosphorus-free. It may seem insignificant, but it’s not. Research has shown that when too much phosphorus enters the environment, there is an adverse effect on the environment. For example, excess phosphorus can lead to harmful algal blooms.

2 | Be a smart energy consumer

Turn off lights, computers and other electrical devices when they are not in use. Make sure you choose energy-efficient appliances for your house. Use cold water to wash your clothes – then hang them up to dry whenever you can. Pretty soon these actions will become habits that you won’t even have to think about.

3 | Switch to a clean energy provider

Find out if you there is an electricity option in your area offering renewable energy, or ask your current provider if the option exists. You may not even be aware of it! If there isn’t, tell your provider you are interested—and have your friends and neighbours tell them too.

4 | Reduce your own personal waste

Avoid single-use plastics, such as water bottles, straws and plastic bags. In the kitchen, buy and cook only what you know you and your family will eat. Compost your kitchen scraps and separate your recyclable materials. Bring your own shopping bags to the grocery store and let store managers know you are interested in products with minimal and/or recyclable packaging. Small choices make a big difference.

5 | Get informed—get involved

To learn more about how to beat pollution, check out organizations like UN Environment. Do your research to find out where political representatives in your area stand on pollution and other environmental issues. Contact them and tell them you want immediate action on climate change. Remind them that action on climate is not just good for the environment—it also improves our health, drives innovation and can create new jobs and grow the economy.

Let’s make 2018 a year of action.  

Jane McDonald, Managing Director at the International Institute for Sustainable Development, made the following statement in response to the federal government announcing its next steps for establishing carbon pricing across Canada:

Today, the federal government sent letters to all provinces and territories outlining the timeline for when it will implement common minimum requirements for a price on carbon across the country. This is a key step forward in enacting the Pan-Canadian Framework on Clean Growth and Climate Change in order to meet Canada’s commitment under the Paris Agreement.

Pricing carbon emissions is a well-established approach to climate change in Canada and around the world. Even before the Pan-Canadian Framework was announced in 2016, 85 per cent of Canadians already lived in a province with carbon pricing. And this year, 67 different jurisdictions around the world are pricing carbon, including the European Union, China, Mexico and major U.S. states.

There are no real surprises in these letters; the minimum common requirements announced in 2016 have not changed. The price has to apply to a broad set of emission sources—not just one sector—and rise over time according to a national floor. Provinces and territories have the flexibility to choose between three different carbon pricing approaches, recognizing the efforts of provinces that have already implemented this policy. If a province or territory does not implement a carbon pricing system according to these guidelines, the federal government’s system is applied and all revenues are returned to that jurisdiction.

What we have not known until now is how this process would roll out. The letters outline three steps:

1. Any province and territory that chooses to have the federal government apply a carbon price will have to confirm this with the federal government by March 30, 2018.
2. By September 1, 2018, every province and territory will have to submit details of how their own plans meet the common minimum standards laid out in 2016 in the Pan-Canadian Framework.
3. If a province’s or territory’s plan does not meet those minimum standards, the federal approach will apply (in whole or in part) so that by January 1, 2019 every Canadian jurisdiction has a CAD 20 per tonne levy or equivalent emissions target.

That means the federal government's carbon price will start at CAD 20 per tonne in 2019, rather than the originally planned CAD 10 per tonne in 2018.

Impacts on provinces and territories will vary. Provinces who already have carbon prices—British Columbia, Alberta, Ontario and Quebec—will not be affected in the next few years. In provinces like Saskatchewan, where the government has so far refused to move ahead with any price on carbon, the federal government will apply the full minimum price of CAD 20 per tonne on January 1, 2019. Some provinces will be subject to the federal price, but only in part and at a later date. Manitoba’s flat CAD 25 per tonne means that a federal top-up will apply starting in 2020 when the minimum national price hits CAD 30.