This is not just a technical or economic issue, but a complex societal issue. The The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences (IVA) has therefore produced a solid knowledge base with facts, analyses and sharp recommendations for society and politics – in the project Vägval för Metaller och Mineral (Crossroads for Metals and Minerals), part-funded by Swedish Mining Innovation.
Mining is critical to meet climate targets
– IVA always wants to help find solutions to various societal challenges. One major challenge is how to meet climate targets and how strongly it is linked to metals and minerals. We have realized that knowledge is very low in society about these issues and therefore wanted to both produce a knowledge base where we describe the challenges we have, and point to a way forward, says project leader Karin Byman at IVA.
– The goal has been to bring together a large number of experts in the field, from Sweden and abroad, to gather as much knowledge as possible and analyze how we should act.
Resilience and competitiveness
– One important aspect is that Europe is so vulnerable and completely dependent on importing several critical metals and components from, for example, China and other non-EU countries. In the new geopolitical situation we find ourselves in, we must both become more self-sufficient and find partnerships with countries outside the EU that we can import from. As one of Europe’s most important mining countries, Sweden has an important role to play in the EU, but it can also benefit Sweden and Swedish industry,” Karin explains.
The project has resulted in three interim reports (in Swedish):
1. challenges to meet increased demand for metals and minerals
2. circular flows to meet increased demand for metals and minerals
3. Increased demand for metals and minerals – strategies, objectives and conflicts of interest
Reports and outreach to policy-makers, teacher training
– We now have a synthesis report underway with more specific recommendations for policy. We have also held ongoing knowledge meetings with members of parliament and organized a teacher training at the National Museum of Science and Technology, which was recorded and is now being disseminated. We also hope to make a good contribution to the government’s mineral strategy, which will be presented in the fall,” Karin concludes.
IVA will present the conclusions and recommendations from the synthesis report on October 14.
All reports and seminars conducted within the project are available at iva.se