🌱 What adverse effects can mining have?
Mining comes with both actual and potential adverse effects.[i] The precise impacts at any given location depend “on several factors, including the methods and technology used, the size of the project, and the ecological and hydrological conditions specific to the extraction site”.[ii] One of the biggest risks is, however, the loss of biodiversity.
🌱 What role do rivers play in protecting biodiversity?
Wetlands and riverine systems play a key role in protecting biodiversity.[iii] By protecting biodiversity, a whole web of intricate interactions between species in ecosystems is preserved. This, in turn, ensures that we can continue to benefit from a number of ecosystem services — such as climate regulation,[iv] food production, water purification, and flood protection.
🌱 What biodiversity is found in rivers and wetlands?
On “a global scale, 70% of rivers occur outside protected areas and only 11.1% are protected in their entirety”.[v] Yet, “freshwater ecosystems […] support a disproportionate number of flora and fauna”, despite “covering less than 1% of the global surface area”.[vi] Wetlands alone host 40% of all species.[vii] As rivers connect wetlands, they are hubs for biodiversity — with species living inside and outside of the water.[viii] Therefore, their protection also plays a key role in the protection of biodiversity more broadly.
🌱 How does mining impact the biodiversity found in rivers?
There are multiple threats that rivers and their vast biodiversity face from mining. Notably, mining often occurs “in remote, ecologically sensitive and less-developed areas”.[ix] This also means that mining comes with considerable risks to biodiversity.[x] Two areas of major concern are the contamination and scarcity of freshwater, along with changes in land use. The inadequate management of water in mines — including high water use, low water reuse, and contaminated water discharges — can adversely impact water resources, and surrounding ecosystems and communities.[xi]
This post has been adapted from a newsletter written by Krisna Baghouzian and Christine Nikander. The newsletter titled “How does critical raw material mining impact river biodiversity?” was originally published in “The E-Waste Newsletter”.
[i] Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment, Mining and the Sustainable Development Goals. https://ccsi.columbia.edu/content/mining-and-sustainable-development-goals (26.08.2024). See also: https://www.theewastecolumn.com/post/how-does-the-mining-of-critical-raw-materials-impact-forests-and-their-biodiversity (27.02.2025).
[ii] Parker et al., Potential impacts of proposed lithium extraction on biodiversity and conservation in the contiguous United States. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0048969723072674 (27.02.2025).
[iii] Wetlands International, Call for an ambitious Global Biodiversity Framework on World Wetlands Day 2020. https://www.wetlands.org/call-for-an-ambitious-global-biodiversity-framework-on-world-wetlands-day-2020/ (20.02.2025). See also: https://www.palsapulk.com/post/how-can-businesses-protect-rivers-and-their-biodiversity (27.02.2025).
[iv] Rockstaröm et al., We need biosphere stewardship that protects carbon sinks and builds resilience (2021). https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.2115218118 (20.02.2025). See also: https://www.palsapulk.com/post/how-can-businesses-protect-rivers-and-their-biodiversity (27.02.2025).
[v] Petersen et al., Incorporating free-flowing rivers into global biodiversity targets: Prioritization and targeted interventions to maintain ecological integrity (2022). https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/aqc.3898 (20.02.2025); Abell et al., Looking Beyond the Fenceline: Assessing Protection Gaps for the World's Rivers (2017). https://conbio.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/conl.12312 (20.02.2025); Perry et al., Global Analysis of Durable Policies for Free-Flowing River Protections (2021). https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/13/4/2347 (20.02.2025).
[vi] Anuradha Kumari and Sarika, “Riverine biodiversity and importance: Potential threat and conservational challenges”, Chapter 13 of Ecological Significance of River Ecosystems Challenges and Management Strategies (2022). https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/B9780323850452000091 (20.02.2025). See also: https://www.palsapulk.com/post/how-can-businesses-protect-rivers-and-their-biodiversity (27.02.2025).
[vii] Wetlands International, Call for an ambitious Global Biodiversity Framework on World Wetlands Day 2020. https://www.wetlands.org/call-for-an-ambitious-global-biodiversity-framework-on-world-wetlands-day-2020/ (20.02.2025). See also: https://www.palsapulk.com/post/how-can-businesses-protect-rivers-and-their-biodiversity (27.02.2025).
[viii] Palsa & Pulk, How can businesses protect rivers and their biodiversity? https://www.palsapulk.com/post/how-can-businesses-protect-rivers-and-their-biodiversity (27.02.2025).
[ix] Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment, UNDP, UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network, World Economic Forum, Mapping Mining to the Sustainable Development Goals: An Atlas. https://www.undp.org/sites/g/files/zskgke326/files/publications/Mapping_Mining_SDGs_An_Atlas_Executive_Summary_FINAL.pdf (26.08.2024). See also: https://www.theewastecolumn.com/post/how-does-the-mining-of-critical-raw-materials-impact-forests-and-their-biodiversity (27.02.2025).
[x] Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment, Mining and the Sustainable Development Goals. https://ccsi.columbia.edu/content/mining-and-sustainable-development-goals (26.08.2024). See also: https://www.theewastecolumn.com/post/how-does-the-mining-of-critical-raw-materials-impact-forests-and-their-biodiversity (27.02.2025).
[xi] Business & Human Rights Resource Centre, “You can’t eat lithium”: Community consent and access to information in transition mineral mining exploration. https://www.business-humanrights.org/en/from-us/briefings/tmt-2021/you-cant-eat-lithium-community-consent-and-access-to-information-in-transition-mineral-mining-exploration-in-europe-and-north-america (21.08.2024); Iris Crawford and Scott Odell, Will mining the resources needed for clean energy cause problems for the environment? https://climate.mit.edu/ask-mit/will-mining-resources-needed-clean-energy-cause-problems-environment (21.08.2024); Lèbre et al., The social and environmental complexities of extracting energy transition metals. https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-020-18661-9 (21.08.2024); Thea Riofrancos, Shifting Mining From the Global South Misses the Point of Climate Justice. https://foreignpolicy.com/2022/02/07/renewable-energy-transition-critical-minerals-mining-onshoring-lithium-evs-climate-justice (21.08.2024); International Energy Agency, The Role of Critical Minerals in Clean Energy Transitions. https://www.iea.org/reports/the-role-of-critical-minerals-in-clean-energy-transitions (21.08.2024); International Energy Agency, The Role of Critical Minerals in Clean Energy Transitions. https://iea.blob.core.windows.net/assets/ffd2a83b-8c30-4e9d-980a-52b6d9a86fdc/TheRoleofCriticalMineralsinCleanEnergyTransitions.pdf (21.08.2024); Pascal Laffont, Critical minerals for clean energy transitions. https://unctad.org/system/files/non-official-document/GCF21_s4_Laffont_1.pdf (21.08.2024); Samuel Block, Mining Energy-Transition Metals: National Aims, Local Conflicts. https://www.msci.com/www/blog-posts/mining-energy-transition-metals/02531033947 (21.08.2024).