INTRODUCTION
Greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions are the major driver for climate change, one of the biggest challenges of our time.
According to ICA analysis on 2023 data and the Copper Mark, copper production represents approximately 0.2% of global GHG emissions. While this contribution to global GHG emissions is currently low, copper demand is expected to double by 2050, driven in part by the need for copper for the clean energy transition. Given this awareness, copper miners and producers recognize that they have a responsibility to mitigate GHG emissions, and many companies have made commitments to, and are engaged in, reducing their GHG emissions. The measurement of GHG emissions is therefore an important step in understanding total emissions affecting climate change and identifying hot spots where significant GHG emissions occur. Accurate and consistent measurement allows companies to both demonstrate and measure e orts in reducing GHG emissions, and determine their contribution to climate change mitigation.
Efforts by companies to reduce GHG emissions at corporate, site, and product level, must be supported by robust, reliable and transparent methods and data to enable those companies to accurately track progress towards decarbonization, to report carbon footprint (CF) data along the supply chain to direct customers and to downstream OEMs using copper products, and to report to market initiatives like the London Metals Exchange’s (LME) LMEpassport and Copper Mark that are asking for CF disclosures. Companies also need to prepare for new regulations that may require CFs. Harmonized methodologies for determining the CFs of products and organizations can support and facilitate a level playing field for reporting and disclosure.
The goal of this guidance is to provide all stakeholders with a harmonized and consistent approach for calculating the carbon footprint for refined copper and its intermediate products, including concentrate.
