Suppliers in the mining industry in the country are being urged to help contribute in the reduction of greenhouse emissions to the environment.
This is targeted at collectively achieving net zero emission in the sector .
Mining is currently responsible for 4 to 7 percent of greenhouse-gas emissions globally.
Scope 1 and Scope 2 CO2 emissions from the sector, emitted through mining operations and power consumption amounts to 1 percent, and fugitive-methane emissions from coal mining are estimated at 3 to 6 percent.
Current targets by mining companies range from 0 to 30 percent by 2030, however in a bid to achieve this, it is incumbent on suppliers in the mining chain to contribute their quota.
The mining industry relies on a wide range of supplies from secondary industries. These include fuel, explosives, electricity among others.
A combination of these contribute to Scope 1 emissions that occur from fuel combustion in boilers, furnaces, vehicles.Scope 2 emissions emanate from the purchase of electricity, steam, heat, or cooling.
Hence in a bid to achieve the minimizing of carbon emissions for sustainable and environmentally friendly mining, industry suppliers are being urged to tackle emissions within their domain.
This call was made by the head of Supply Chain of Gold Fields, Theophilus Otchere, at the 2023 Suppliers Conference on the theme: “the ESG culture change, an imperative to building a resilient supply chain through partnership.”
“Within Gold Fields we have our ESG priorities and targets, the first one has to do with decarbonisation, essentially trying to set ourselves a target by 2030 to have a net emission using our 2016 baseline.
By 2050 we are saying that we are going to be net zero, which is a tall order for us and I am particularly interested in that because , your scope 1 and 2 will form our scope 3 , so it’s important that we pay particular attention to reducing carbon emissions as suppliers and contractors,” he posited.
Recognizing the urgency of their compliance to reducing carbon emissions, some suppliers in the chain shared their efforts in that endeavour.
“We started the emission tracking way back in 2018 and our initial emission records was around 87% and this comprised both scope 1 and 2. Out of the 87%, nitrous oxide accounted for 55%, natural gas accounted for 33%, electricity accounting for 11% and others were 2%, but currently, between 2018 and now we have reduced it to 9.8%, we are also coming up with technologies that are environmentally friendly” a representative, of Orica Mining Services, Albert Avoke posited.
Source: Ghana/Starrfm.com.gh/103.5FM/Kobina Amuah
