Mineral security and sustainability theme

Minerals are essential ingredients of the Sustainable Development Goals and mineral security is said to exist when all people have sufficient and affordable access to the minerals necessary for human development. 

Minerals provide the bricks and concrete for our shelter, the mineral fertilisers fundamental for agriculture, the copper that enables global communication, the lithium that is fuelling the renewable energy transition, and the gravel and stone that builds bridges and paves rural roads. However, there are major challenges in the supply of minerals and the environmental and social consequences of their extraction, processing and use that demand innovation and practice change.

Further, minerals are currently the only natural resource not featured explicitly in the Sustainable Development Goals, with a potential outcome of this theme greater international recognition and understanding for how minerals can meaningfully contribute to human development whilst supporting and enabling the SDG targets.

The University of Exeter and UQ are both world-leading in environmental science, delivering research breakthroughs across many challenges such as:

• development minerals
• mineral and energy security
• decarbonisation

The mineral security and sustainability theme will address global sustainability challenges in the discovery, supply and use of mineral resources. Research will advance fundamental science as well as global practice change for impact.