Extractive Industries Overview: Development news, research, data

Overview

· The demand for metals, minerals, and mineral products rapidly increases due to the energy transition and urbanization. The world will need to mine 6 to 13 times more critical minerals for batteries and electric vehicles by 2040.

· The World Bank is helping its clients countries harness the economic benefits of their mineral resources responsibly, minimize negative impacts on people and the environment, and promote sustainable low-carbon practices.

· The Bank’s Extractives Unit and the Extractives Global Programmatic Support Umbrella Trust Fund (EGPS) promote sustainable and inclusive mineral value chains, support people and communities to benefit from growing demand for critical minerals, strengthen transparency and governance, and enhance shared prosperity. Our 3 work streams include (1) Minerals for Development (including decarbonizing the mining sector and critical minerals supply), (2) Artisanal and Small-scale Mining (ASM), and (3) Just Coal Transition.

· The EGPS donors include the governments of Belgium, Canada, the European Union, France, Germany, Italy, Korea, Netherlands, Norway, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom, with a collective donor contribution of over $100 million.

Resilient and Inclusive Supply-chain Enhancement (RISE) Partnership

· The World Bank's RISE initiative, launched in October 2023 in partnership with the G7, provides capacity building, technical assistance, and knowledge sharing to help low—and middle-income countries boost investments in mid-stream and downstream mining.

· RISE supports the development of diverse and inclusive supply chains for clean energy products that promote skilled workforce development, generate quality jobs and safe, inclusive, and ethical work environments, and contribute to economic diversification and resilience.

Artisanal and Small-scale Mining (ASM)

· ASM represents low-tech, labor-intensive mineral extraction, often conducted informally and, at times, illegally in protected areas. If managed properly, ASM can make a positive contribution to the economy and could constitute a lever for development and poverty reduction.

· With the largest global workforce of 44.95 million across 80 countries, ASM supplies vital minerals for communication, clean energy, and jewelry.

· The World Bank has been engaged in ASM since the 1980s, providing significant financial support and thought leadership. Despite international investment exceeding $1 billion in ASM formalization, much more needs to be done to support the sector.

· Delve, the World Bank’s online platform for ASM data, aims to close the sector's data gap and improve decision-making, policies, and interventions.

Just Transition: Support to Countries Transitioning Away from Coal

· The global coal transition is critical to achieving the goals of the Paris Climate Agreement, but overcoming the challenges of this transition is particularly difficult in regions that depend heavily on coal.

· Transitioning from coal is much more than simply replacing coal with renewable energy; It is essential to foster trust, confidence, and progress through continuous support to affected governments, enterprises, people, and communities.

· The World Bank's Global Coal Transition Program (GCTP) offers a holistic approach to help countries scale down coal production by engaging multiple sectors and the entire society. In the past two decades, WB has provided more than $3 billion to support governments to close coal mines and power plants and ensure a Just Transition that safeguards jobs and income in affected communities.

Climate-Smart Mining (CSM)

· In 2019, the World Bank and IFC launched the CSM Initiative, which has pioneered sustainable mining practices through four key pillars—decarbonization, resilience, circular economy, and market opportunities—to promote sustainable and economically beneficial investments and reinforce national development. CSM prioritizes reducing the mining sector's carbon footprint through the adoption of renewable energy, energy efficiency, and innovative practices such as nature-based solutions.

Last Updated: Aug 29,2024

The World Bank’s work in the extractives sector focuses on:

1. Holistic sector reforms that maximize the benefits of the extractives sector in a way that contributes to sustainable and inclusive development, helping governments realize the development potential of the sector. This approach involves minimizing any negative impacts on people and the environment.

2. Accelerating the energy transition and climate action by reducing emissions from the extractives sector. Current work includes:

· The Climate-Smart Mining Initiative supports resource-rich developing countries to decarbonize and reduce the material footprint of critical mineral supply chains required for the clean energy transition, whilst enabling these countries to benefit through sustainable development from increasing demand for such minerals.

· The Supporting Energy Transition in Coal Regions initiative supports client countries to work towards a “just transition” in coal regions. This initiative leverages the World Bank’s two decades of experience with coal sector adjustments to help governments plan and implement a Just Coal Transition that puts communities and the environment at its center. The World Bank provides various forms of support to coal regions in transition – including technical assistance and project financing – across three pillars of its Coal Regions in Transition Framework: (1) governance, (2) people & communities, and (3) land and asset repurposing & environmental remediation. This framework ensures that those most impacted by the transition help create the plans, policies, and reforms that will strengthen institutions and mobilize investments needed to repurpose post-mining land, support impacted people in their post-transition jobs and lives, and promote regional transformation.

Dedicated Multi-Donor Trust Funds support the World Bank’s engagement in developing countries:

· The Extractives Global Programmatic Support (EGPS) is a Multi-Donor Trust Fund that supports low- and middle-income countries in benefitting from the demand for critical minerals required for the clean energy transition while contributing to the diversification of sustainable and inclusive mineral supply chains and legalization and formalization of artisanal and small-scale mining.

Last Updated: Sep 03,2024

Afghanistan: The Bank is working closely with the government to ensure the sustainable development of the country’s natural resources. The current project facilitates a sustainable supply of gas through targeted investments in gas infrastructure and enhanced gas sector governance, doubling the deliverability of commercial quality natural gas that can be used for energy access. The Bank also helps manage ancient and treasured cultural assets around the Mes Aynak site.
Burkina Faso: The World Bank has provided technical assistance to the mining sector, directly benefiting over 19,000 people, including over 4,000 women. The technical assistance program supported an improved regulatory and policy framework.
Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC): With World Bank support, women working across the mining sector in DRC organized themselves to establish a national network to advance gender equity. The World Bank held two “Women in Mining Conferences” in 2015 and 2017 and conducted an in-depth survey in 2016/17 across five major mining provinces, resulting in elections for a new national Women in Mining network. The Bank also implemented pilot projects on women’s working conditions and child labor. The latter pilot program succeeded in getting 1,200 children out of child labor and into school and training.
Guinea: The Bank is helping build systems and capacity to manage the country’s mining sector, including the development of major growth corridors around bauxite and iron ore mines.
Indonesia: the World Bank and the government of Indonesia are working together under the Natural Resources for Development Program (NR4D) to strengthen Indonesia’s natural resources management and governance as part of wider reforms in the extractives sector. The program prioritizes marginalized groups, including women and artisanal and small-scale mining communities, and examines the opportunities and challenges for Indonesia to reduce carbon emissions and transition to clean energy. As part of this work, the World Bank and the government are reviewing the gas value chain in Indonesia to facilitate reductions in gas flaring and the use of flared gas to boost energy access in the country. The ultimate goal of the overall program is to maximize the benefits of Indonesia’s natural resources in a way that is sustainable, inclusive, and just.
Mozambique: The Bank is supporting the government by strengthening the capacity and governance systems of key institutions to manage the mining and hydrocarbon sectors.
Nigeria: The Bank is helping the country substantially enhance the mining sector’s contribution to the economy while strengthening key government institutions and fostering domestic investment in the sector. The World Bank’s Global Gas Flaring Reduction Partnership (GGFR) is also supporting the government in its efforts to end the polluting and wasteful practice of routine gas flaring during oil production, in line with its Nationally Determined Contribution under the Paris Agreement, and to provide Nigerian citizens more access to energy.
Rwanda: the government of Rwanda created a new mining law and a clear framework for the country’s mining sector. The new mining law was informed by the African Mining Legislation Atlas (AMLA), which the World Bank created as part of the Extractives Global Programmatic Support (EGPS) Multi-Donor Trust Fund.
Senegal: following three major oil and gas discoveries, the Bank is helping to build the government’s capacity and provide support and technical advice to negotiate oil and LNG contracts. These efforts are expected to boost investments, foster sustainable gas sector development, and lay the foundations for the sector’s contribution to the economy.
Togo: The Bank is helping streamline the institutional framework of key government agencies involved in the extractives sector to strengthen efficiency and accountability for effective management of the sector. The Bank is also helping artisanal and small-scale mine operators develop skills while raising awareness of sustainable mining practices in communities affected by mining operations.
Zero Routine Flaring by 2030 initiative: As of August 2021, 79 governments and oil companies that account for nearly 60 percent of global gas flaring have committed to (a) not routinely flare associated gas in new oil field developments and (b) end existing (legacy) flaring as soon as possible and no later than 2030.
As part of the Supporting Energy Transition in Coal Regions initiative, the World Bank, in partnership with the European Commission, is assisting Poland to ensure a “Just Transition” in the country’s primary coal regions of Dolnośląskie (Lower Silesia), Śląskie (Silesia), and Wielkopolskie (Greater Poland). The project will focus on enhancing the capacity of coal regions to plan for a Just Transition through job creation, repurposing of former mining lands, and stakeholder engagement.
The World Bank is also facilitating knowledge exchange between the coal regions of Poland and Ukraine, helping both countries prepare for an energy transformation in the coming years. Representatives from Ukraine’s public and private sectors will visit Polish coal regions and share challenges and experiences.
Through EGPS, the World Bank is a major supporter of Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI) implementation in developing countries. The implementation of EITI fosters discussion between industry, government, and civil society and is linked to broader policy reforms. EGPS has supported over 50 countries, of which more than 80 percent achieved meaningful or satisfactory progress—meaning that most EITI requirements have been implemented and the broader objectives of these requirements have been fulfilled. These countries’ successes are critical milestones in the global journey towards a transparent, accountable extractives sector.
EGPS also supports the Extractives-Led Local Economic Diversification (ELLED) program, which promotes local economic diversification and the development of competitive local industries in mineral and hydrocarbon-rich economies. ELLED supports cutting-edge research and the systematization and sharing of existing knowledge to address extractives-related policy challenges, including climate-smart investment, strategic spatial planning, forward-looking value chains, and the development of network economies.
EGPS recently created a new emergency response for vulnerable artisanal and small-scale mining communities impacted by COVID-19, providing assistance to various international, regional, national, and local organizations engaged in the sector.