Sustainable Development
Introduction
It is almost impossible to imagine life without minerals and metals and metal compounds. Of the 92 naturally occurring elements, 70 are metals; many are essential to plant, animal, and human life. These substances have been part of human activity since bits of copper were first hammered into simple tools about 6000 B.C.
Today, society needs minerals and metals for ever-widening purposes. Industrial minerals such as mica are essential components of advanced industrial materials. Agriculture needs mineral-based fertilizers. Industries depend on metals for machinery and concrete for the manufacturing plants necessary for industrialization. No aircraft, automobile, computer, or electrical appliance can function without metals. Electrical power supply depends on copper and aluminum. Titanium is critical for aircraft engines. A world without the silicon chip is now unimaginable. Metals will continue to contribute to the needs of future generations through new applications in the electronics, telecommunications and aerospace industries.
In Canada, the concept of sustainable development is being integrated into federal government policies, programs, and legislation. The Minerals and Metals Policy of the Government of Canada: Partnerships for Sustainable Development recognizes that the continued use of Canada’s mineral resource endowment must proceed within a sustainable development framework.
Canada’s federal, provincial, and territorial governments play complementary roles in the mining sector. The federal government is responsible for nuclear energy, including uranium mining, and the regulation of all mining activities in the Northwest Territories, Yukon, and Nunavut. The provincial governments own the natural resources within their jurisdiction and are responsible for policies and regulations covering all aspects of exploration, development, and extraction of mineral resources, as well as the construction, management, reclamation, and close-out of mine sites in their jurisdiction.
Responsibility for environmental protection and conservation is shared between both levels of government. As such, the federal, provincial, and territorial governments are key partners in the sustainable development of minerals and metals.
MMS’s activities and partnerships provide an opportunity to demonstrate Canadian know-how and expertise in a wide range of issues related to sustainable development, such as: the safe use of minerals and metals, life-cycle assessment, product stewardship, science-based decision-making, and advances in science and technology related to mining technology, the mitigation of environmental impacts of mineral and metal development, and mine decommissioning and site reclamation.
We invite you to explore the links below to find out more.
SD Related Sites
NRCan's Sustainable Development Site
Minerals and Metals
Geomatics for Sustainable Development of Natural Resources (GSDNR)
Whitehorse Mining Initiative (WMI)
SD Reports (NRCan)
The Social Dimension of Sustainable Development and the Mining Industry (Background Paper) (HTML) (PDF, 681 kb)
Minerals and Metals Policy of the Government of Canada :
Partnerships for Sustainable Development
Minerals and Metals : Towards a Sustainable Future (PDF, 346 kb) - The monograph (#10) was prepared as part of a series to contribute to the land use dialogue at the Eighth Session of the United Nations Commission on Sustainable Development, April 24 to May 5, 2000.
Background Paper on Land Access, Protected Areas and Sustainable Development (HTML) (PDF, 166 kb)
Sustainable Development and Minerals and Metals: An Issues Paper
Sustainable Development of Minerals and Metals (A monograph submitted to the United Nations Commission on Sustainable Development)
Sustainable Development Links
Commissioner of the Environment and Sustainable Development
Global Dialogue of Governments on Mining/Metals and Sustainable Development
International SD Links (Minerals and Metals)
SD Info (Government of Canada)
Sustainable Communities Initiative
The Mining, Minerals and Sustainable Development (MMSD) Project
UN Division for Sustainable Development