Green Economy Journal Issue 57

DECARBONISATION
DECARBONISATION
CLIMATE IMPACT IMPERATIVES:
resilience and decarbonisation
Resilience and decarbonisation are two sides of the same coin for companies as
they evolve their strategies toward climate change, according to SRK associate
partner and principal scientist Philippa Burmeister.
BY SRK CONSULTING
decarbonisation is about limiting the company’s
impact on the environment, resilience is about
“While
being prepared for the environment’s impact on
the company’s operations,” says Burmeister. “Every responsible
organisation needs to be addressing both these imperatives – not
just one or the other.”
DECARBONISING THROUGH EFFICIENCY
Decarbonisation continues to be a strategic priority for mining
companies, with targets and achievements being reported in greater
detail as part of integrated reporting standards and requirements.
Among the more well-publicised of these efforts are new and relatively
unproven technologies that mines are still testing – such us hydrogen
trucks. However, SRK Consulting managing director, Andrew van Zyl,
points out that many improvements in mines’ carbon footprints have
been achieved over the years – but referred to simply as efficiencies.
“There are many costs in mining that are proxies for carbon footprint
– such as diesel consumption in mining trucks or energy consumed
in crushing and milling phases,” explains Van Zyl. “As engineering
consultants, we assist clients to reduce fuel consumption through
optimal design and slope of haul roads – all contributing to the
decarbonisation effort.
“The application of novel carbon-reducing technologies in mining
projects remains important, but it does have implications for new
projects’ bankability. If there is insufficient evidence of how well or
at what cost a key item of equipment will work, for instance, then it
will undermine the process of proving a reserve and establishing the
project’s profitability.”
Observed
data is critical to
understanding
both the
current and
future climate.
Philippa Burmeister.
THE OTHER SIDE OF THE COIN
Van Zyl indicates that there is a strong imperative in mining and other
sectors to contribute to reducing carbon emissions, even though the
climate change trend is well under way.
“As good corporate citizens, it is incumbent on all stakeholders to
commit to a lower carbon future even if the positive results are many
decades in the future,” he says. It is critical that, while still undertaking
decarbonisation initiatives, organisations need to simultaneously
build resilience to prevent potential climatic changes affecting their
operations. In the mining industry, the relevance of climate change is
direct and explicit in tailings dam management.
IMPACT ON TAILINGS DAMS
“The Global Industry Standards on Tailings Management (GISTM) which
the mining sector has committed to, has made it mandatory that mines
build climate change into their forecasts and strategies,” says Burmeister.
At a recent SRK global climate action workshop, an SRK tailings
expert made it clear that climate change was already evident and the
GISTM now made it mandatory that tailings dam owners develop and
apply adaptation strategies in their design and management of these
structures. The workshop also looked at the various tools available
for adapting to climate change and developing more resilience.
“While a key focus was on tailings dams, these tools are applicable
to all types of adaptation – to try and understand what the future is
going to look like,” Burmeister adds. “They include models to predict
how climate patterns will change, so that companies can start adapting
their plans to suit changed conditions.”
The same tools also have value for industry and agriculture – as
they all need to adapt to potential climate extremes, increased
temperatures and changes in rainfall patterns.
FINDING THE RIGHT MODELS
Burmeister highlights that there is a vast amount of data available
on which models can be developed, but it is difficult to know which
models and data are most relevant to the site in question.
“An aspect that received extensive discussion at the workshop was
developing our own in-house capacity in climate change resilience
– a key area of which is the range of models available for climate
forecasting,” she adds. “Each model has its own advantages and
disadvantages, and we have to advise clients on which ones best suit
their location – and how to correct bias using observed data.”
An important aim of this work is to generate a selection of
scenarios based on data which comes with a relatively high level
of confidence. Building on SRK’s existing skills in this field, the
process is working towards every SRK project team having solid
insights into how the climate will change for the sites at which their
projects are based. This allows the engineers and scientists in each
team to reflect on the impact such changes are likely to have for the
activities of the project covered by their specific disciplines.
OBSERVABLE DATA
“If future rainfall figures can be to some extent quantified, then it
gives engineers a basis on which to assess possible impacts and
responses in the mine’s daily operations,” she says.
She emphasised the importance of confidence in data as a vital
starting point to building better climate change resilience. While
models are useful, they need to be tested and “trained” with the
READ REPORT
THOUGHT [ECO]NOMY
use of observable data from the site itself. This meant that mining,
industrial and agriculture sector players need to implement effective
monitoring systems for climate indicators such as temperature,
rainfall, humidity, evaporation and wind speeds.
“This on-site meteorological monitoring – when conducted
accurately – makes it possible to select the most appropriate models
for a site, and to improve the performance of those models over
time. Data confidence is the single biggest hurdle that we need to
overcome, and observed data is critical to understanding both the
current and future climate.”
RISK FROM EXTREMES
Climate change resilience is not just about understanding how
average temperatures and rainfall will change but also how historical
climatic patterns and extremes will change. Indeed, climate change
is expected to have a greater impact on extremes – meaning that
there may be even more rain in already rainy months or spikes in
temperature in the hottest times of year. It is these extremes that
pose some of the greatest risks to operations.
While this has implications for mining, it will similarly require
consideration from other industries that may need to carefully
consider the operating levels on equipment or storm water designs.
Potentially the greatest impact will be felt in agriculture, where
even a small shift in the timing of a dry or wet period could have a
devastating effect on crops.
“The focus will remain on decarbonisation as companies align with
growing expectations from investors, funders and other stakeholders,”
concludes van Zyl. “However, climate change adaptation to build
resilience will allow organisations to prevent disruptions, damage
and losses associated with current and future climate changes.”
THE FOURTH SOUTH AFRICAN CLIMATE CHANGE TRACKING REPORT | The Department of Forestry,
Fisheries and the Environment | [2021]
South Africa is undertaking a variety of actions to respond to the causes and effects of climate change.
South Africa’s response, through adaptation and mitigation actions, is guided by the National Climate
Response Policy (2011) and the National Climate Change Adaptation Strategy, and with international
greeneconomy/report recycle commitments as stipulated in the updated Nationally Determined Contributions (NDC).
Consideration needs to be made to come up with smart indicators to be tracked overtime to inform policy
and decision-making. The development of relevant and strategic climate indicators requires taking a step
back from the siloed approach to to focus on the system approach that integrates environmental, social and
economic dimensions. The environment is intricately entwined within the wider societal and economic systems
which cannot and should not be treated as separate entities.
In recognising this complex interconnectedness, the approach to developing indicators to track South
Africa’s progress on the national response to climate change takes a systemic approach. This holds the promise of capturing much of the systemic
impact of climate change and of response measures. A systemic perspective is necessary to gain a deep insight into climate change and climate change
impacts and is important for mobilising strategic responses to climate change.
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