SWEDEN Law and Practice Contributed by: Peter Dyer and Alexandra Thörnroos, Wåhlin Advokater AB
as Svemin, with its Road Map for a Competitive and Fossil-free Mining and Mineral Industry (see 3.1 Climate Change Effects ). Currently, efforts are being made to develop a global, consolidated mining standard for sus - tainability (Consolidated Mining Standard Initia - tive). The standards being considered for inclu - sion are: • Towards Sustainable Mining (TSM); • International Council on Mining and Metals (ICMM); • the Copper Mark; and • Gold Standard. The first version of the consolidated standard has been issued for public consultation, and Svemin is preparing a response on behalf of the industry. The goal is to address all relevant sustainability issues within the mining sector, organised into categories, including governance and management, working conditions, environ - mental impact, climate, stakeholder relations and legal matters. Another aim is to establish a standard that is applicable to all types of mines and regions globally. 3.3 Sustainable Development Initiatives Related to Mining Svemin has developed a roadmap detailing how increased consideration for biological diversity can also be profitable, called Mining with Nature. The goal is for the mining industry to contribute to increased biodiversity in all the regions where mining and mineral activities and exploration are ongoing by 2030. Svemin has also introduced the TraceMet pro - ject, which investigates the possibility of trac - ing certified and sustainably broken metals. The project uses the following criteria:
• carbon footprint; and • quantity of recycled material.
Another project is “Swedish Mining and Miner - als Industry in a Sustainable Future”, which is a collaborative project between Svemin and the Stockholm Environment Institute (SEI). The pro - ject examines the mining industry’s conditions for contributing to sustainable societal develop - ment based on different future scenarios. 3.4 Energy-Transition Minerals The Swedish bedrock contains about half of the critical raw materials listed by the EU as being needed for batteries, wind turbines, solar pan - els and other products in the renewable energy industry. Today, however, there is no mining of these metals and minerals in Sweden, widely attributed to the lengthy and inefficient permit - ting process. The situation has caused Sweden to drop in the international rankings of attractive - ness for prospecting, even though it is one of the only countries in Europe where the geologi - cal conditions make it possible to contribute to reducing Europe’s dependence on imports. In 2013, the government published a Mineral Strategy identifying the need for a clearer and more effective regulatory framework, including follow-up and evaluation of performed initiatives to shorten environmental permitting lead-times. Since then, the problem has been discussed in numerous reports, and the continuing problems with permitting lead-times have been increas - ingly criticised by the industry. On 11 March 2021, the government decided to appoint a public inquiry to review and report on permitting laws and procedures, with the aim of ensuring a sustainable supply of innovation- critical metals and minerals from primary and secondary sources. The inquiry published its
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