Mining and the Energy Transition: Protecting Forests, Biodiversity, and People 

Join us during a session at the IUCN Regional Conservation Forum for Europe, North and Central Asia in Bruges for a session about the ecological footprint of the energy transition. This session on September 30 at 5PM, organised by IUCN NL, Both ENDS, FERN and Natuur & Milieu will address the issue of nickel mining and forests from a Global, European and national perspective.

Nickelmine near Siuna, Central Sulawesi (c) Stephanie Broekarts / IUCN NL

Today’s world is facing several major crises, including in the areas of energy, climate, biodiversity and health. It is increasingly recognised that nature plays a vital role in resolving these often interconnected crises. However, growing global demand for minerals and metals, also driven by the energy transition, is fueling a mining boom of unprecedented proportions, often in forested areas. Our session at the Regional Conservation Forum will discuss this topic, using nickel mining in Indonesia as an example.

Agenda

• Setting the scene – Mark van der Wal (Senior Expert Ecosystems & Extractives);
• Trade agreements and their impacts – Marius Troost (Senior Policy Advisor, Both Ends);
• EU legislation for critical raw materials: opportunities and challenges – Perrine Fournier (Forests and Trade Campaigner, FERN);
• Circularity and material use reduction in The Netherlands – Fenna Plaisier (Project Leader Mobility & Spatial Planning, Natuur & Milieu).