Critical mineral mining: stabilizing Canada’s economy through energy justice

Electric vehicles, solar panels, wind turbines, electrical transmission lines, and batteries are the cornerstone of a net-zero future, and all require critical minerals. As Canada and the rest of the world transition to net zero, demand for critical minerals will rise. By relying on our own critical mineral resources, we can ensure supply chain resilience and ethically sourced mineral stocks. There is incredible opportunity for Canada to be a leading economic power in a net-zero future, but with this opportunity comes great responsibility. Unsustainable mining destroys habitats; leads to land instability; pollutes the air, soil, and water; and fails to respect the health and well-being of workers and Indigenous Peoples. The extractive sector—which has depleted limited resources, and has had large-scale impacts on the environment—has been considered irreconcilable with sustainability. However, mined materials enable technological advances, and offer social benefits linked to sustainable growth. By reusing and recycling metals, we can decrease the need for extraction. A sustainable mining sector will minimize negative environmental, social, and economic impacts; will decrease reliance on new sources by prioritizing recycled mineral resources; and will ensure the rate at which new sources can be established is not exceeded. ISG Senator Rosa Galvez is an environmental engineer, and a professor at Laval University. Photograph courtesy of Sen. Galvez’s office A core objective of Canada’s Critical Minerals Strategy is to advance reconciliation with Indigenous Peoples who have been stewards of the lands since time immemorial, and hold constitutionally recognized rights and title to some of Canada’s most mineral-rich lands. Despite the inherent mineral wealth of their lands, Indigenous Peoples have historically been excluded from mining sector development, have been denied benefits from a multibillion-dollar industry, and have suffered disproportionate negative impacts from mining. Sustainable mining must be regulated to adequately protect the environment, and must respect Indigenous Peoples and Indigenous rights. The United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, which provides a framework for reconciliation, healing, and peace, as well as harmonious and co-operative relations, must be an integrated part of critical mineral extraction endeavours. To realize the potential of sustainable mining, capital must flow to climate-aligned projects that focus on low-carbon technologies, renewable energy, and sustainable infrastructure. In March, the Government of British Columbia announced $850,000 in funding for a pilot project that may offer the mining industry a way to significantly reduce the environmental impacts of extracting critical minerals by reducing mining sector emissions and water usage. We urgently need more funded projects like this one, and we must do more to unlock economic opportunities through innovation, job creation, and the development of new business models. Global investment in the energy transition hit a record $1.8-trillion in 2023, but in Canada we are lagging, putting our economy in a vulnerable position. From 2020 to 2022, the Big Five Canadian banks increased their fossil fuel financing exposure from 15.5 per cent to 18.4 per cent, and favoured fossil fuel investments over clean energy at a ratio of 3.9-to-1. The transition to a low-carbon economy has the potential to solve our most challenging crises: climate, pollution, economic competitiveness, innovation, inflation, and affordability. Renewable energy is deflationary, cheaper, cleaner, safer, and independent of geopolitics. Through energy justice, and with sufficient financial support, critical mineral mining can stabilize the Canadian economy while we all enjoy the benefits of a cleaner, healthier environment, and a just society. This can be our sustainable future, and the legacy of our generation. The Climate-Aligned Finance Act, Bill S-243, currently being studied by the Standing Senate Committee on Banking, Commerce and the Economy, would help Canada shift capital flows to climate-aligned activities ensuring we not only reach our net-zero goals, but also future-proof Canada’s economy, and secure our role in the global critical mineral market in a way that respects Indigenous Peoples. Investment in green public transit systems and infrastructure, and the transformation of our linear economy to a resilient circular economy that prioritizes resource efficiency, restoration, and regeneration are of the essence. Critical minerals will play a key role in Canada’s net-zero transition and in our economic stability, but we must also simultaneously work to maximize the circularity of these critical minerals to reduce our reliance on extraction and new mining infrastructure, and we must do all of this by way of advancing reconciliation with Indigenous Peoples. Rosa Galvez is an environmental engineer, a professor at Laval University, and has served as an Independent Senator for the province of Quebec since 2016. She is a member of the Senate’s National Finance Committee. The Hill Times

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Critical mineral mining: stabilizing Canada’s economy through energy justice

A sustainable mining sector will minimize negative environmental, social, and economic impacts.

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