PRESS RELEASE | BRUSSELS | SEPTEMBER 2022 – The SUMEX project is pleased to announce the release of a database that provides open access to good practise examples that could help transforming the extractive sector towards sustainability.
SUMEX (Sustainable Management in Extractive Industries) is a 36-month project funded by the European Commission that started on 1 November 2020. The project aims to contribute to a sustainable mineral extraction within Europe. In this line, the SUMEX Knowledge Repository has been developed as a basis for capacity building and peer learning for actors of the extractive sector across Europe, including civil society, industry, academia and government.
Due to the climate change crisis, and as a response to other environmental challenges and the need to improve social performance, sustainability has become an increasingly important factor in the sector. To promote more sustainable mineral extraction in Europe, taking stock of knowledge and practice on sustainability topics is the key. The SUMEX Knowledge Repository is a collection of European sustainability practices which is easily and publicly navigable. Find information on the entire extractives’ life cycle and along the five SUMEX focus areas – socio-economic and environmental impact assessment, land use planning, health and safety, reporting and permitting processes. For this, our team assessed the potential of projects and programmes from Horizon 2020, EIT RawMaterials or extractive companies to contribute to the sustainable development agenda in the European extractives sector. All actors in the extractive industry, from companies, permitting authorities to non-governmental organisations (NGOs) will be able to identify needed practices and embed them in their own. It will be especially relevant for industry representatives and members of public administrations wishing to understand and implement sustainability management at any stage of the extractive life cycle, from land-use planning to exploration to post-closure. This has the advantage that these practices have already been implemented somewhere so that their applicability and impacts are already known to a certain extent.
The SUMEX Knowledge Repository can be understood as a tool establishing an overview of sustainability practice and knowledge in the extractives and, therefore, informing decision-making on the strategic management as well as operational level. The project team works continuously on updating and extending it with new practices, with the vision that it becomes a useful tool for European extractive industry actors.
