“Moving forward, Natural Resources Canada will have to fully assess risks and impacts of the Canadian Critical Minerals Strategy to help maximize the strategy’s benefits while minimizing adverse effects from increased mining activities,” report author Jerry DeMarco said in a release.
“Otherwise, the benefits of advancing technology in support of the transition to net-zero emissions could be offset by adverse effects on climate, biodiversity, Indigenous communities, and future generations.”
The federal natural resources ministry agreed with the report’s recommendations while noting provinces have control over mining to a large extent.
“Given that relatively few critical minerals projects fall within federal jurisdiction, the strategy alone cannot account for expected national level net-impacts of critical minerals development on domestic greenhouse gas emissions,” the ministry stated in the…
