CONFERENCE REGISTRATION(link is external)
Growing public and political urgency around sustainability has resulted in wide-ranging and ambitious global policy measures. Policies include the UN Sustainable Development Goals, the Framework Convention on Climate Change (including the Paris Agreement) plus the European Commission’s strategic long-term vision for a prosperous, modern, competitive and climate neutral economy by 2050 – Clean Planet for All Communication from November 2018 as well as the policy on Circular Economy. The conference will explore the contribution and solutions the raw materials sector can deliver to achieve these policy goals.
6th November 2019
12:00 – 13:00 Lunch
13:00 Start of the conference – welcome notes, VIP guests
13:30 – 15:00 Keynote speakers
15:00 – 15:30 Break
15:30 – 17:30 Energy self-sufficiency and carbon neutrality
A big share of climate-neutral electricity will come from ‘variable sources’. New challenges related to variability, infrastructure and storage are therefore inevitable. Such challenges include:
- Variability of supply: Most often industries are base-load consumers, with a very flat stable production profile. Reliable supply will be crucial.
- Storage: Given the variable nature of the electricity supply, will be needed to manage periods of over- and under-supply of electricity.
7th November 2019
9:00 – 10:30 Role of mineral resources for the EU economy
The pressing question is how to make Europe attractive for investments in the development of innovative climate-neutral and sustainable solutions and financing their uptake in the face of increasing global competition. This will require increasing (and sometime even doubling) current levels of investments in order to step up industries’ efforts in developing and implementing new technologies, while re-inventing their business models.
10:30 – 11:00 Break
11:00 – 12:30 Industrial value chains
European energy-intensive industries (EIIs) are at the start of long value chains that provide products and materials, including those that are essential contributors to the low carbon transition.
12:30 – 14:00 Lunch
14:00 – 15:30 Mining and sustainable water management
For sustainability to be a cornerstone of policy and action, Europe must bring together a plurality of tools to enable contribution by all citizens whilst improving quality of life and competitiveness. Sustainable water management is one of the tools.
15:30 – 16:00 Break
16:00 – 17:30 Sustainable waste management
Sustainability must be a vital component of any successful competitiveness strategy and Europe must emphasise commercial drivers to eliminate waste, promote efficiency, and drive innovation.
18:00 End of the Conference
