It’s possible that I shall make an ass of myself. But in that case one can always get out of it with a little dialectic. I have, of course, so worded my proposition as to be right either way (K.Marx, Letter to F.Engels on the Indian Mutiny)
Sunday, November 26, 2023
ARCHAEOLOGY
Ancient 20-inch-long hand ax discovered in Saudi Arabia may be world's largest
Laura Geggel Sat, November 25, 2023 We see a woman and a man looking at a long hand ax in the lab.
Archaeologists in Saudi Arabia have discovered what may be the world's largest prehistoric hand ax. The stone tool measures 20.2 inches (51.3 centimeters) long and, despite its size, is easily held with two hands, according to a statement.
An international team of researchers found the basalt hand ax on the Qurh Plain, just south of AlUla, a region in northwest Saudi Arabia. Both of the hand ax's sides have been sharpened, suggesting that it could have been employed for cutting or chopping. However, it's still unclear how the stone tool was used and which species, for instance Homo erectus or Homo sapiens, crafted it.
A long stone hand ax on the sand
It's also unknown how old the tool is, as "the handaxe requires much more research to determine an accurate date," Ömer Can Aksoy, an archaeologist and the excavation's project director, told Live Science in an email. However, other tools found at the site may date to 200,000 years ago, according to the team's assessment of their form and characteristics, so it's possible that the hand ax dates also to the Lower or Middle Palaeolithic, Aksoy said.
Researchers nearly missed the enormous hand ax, which is 3.7 inches (9.5 cm) wide and 2.2 inches (5.7 cm) thick. "It was the last 15 minutes of our daily work and it was a hot day," Aksoy said. "Two of our team members found the giant handaxe lying over the surface of a sand dune."
Three hand ax artefacts from Qurh Plain AlUla in Saudi Arabia.
Group of researchers in archaeological site in Saudi Arabia.
Group of researchers in archaeological site in Saudi Arabia.
After hearing the team members' calls, the rest of the crew joined them and then excavated the area in depth. "We recorded 13 more handaxes on the site," Aksoy said. "Each team member took off their yellow vests in order to highlight the locations of each find over the sand dune."
While the other newly found hand axes were similar in style, they were smaller in size. "After the initial excitement when we discovered this remarkable object we carried out an initial search to see if other similar sized objects had been found," Aksoy said. While the search for large hand axes continues, "this might be one of the longest," he said.
Surveys at Qurh Plain are ongoing. The 2023 field season, which lasts from October to December, is nearly over. Archaeological work is planned to start again in winter and spring 2024.
Casas del Turuñuelo, a site of repeated animal sacrifice in Iron Age Spain
Detailed analysis reveals rituals of mass sacrifice of horses and other animals
SACRIFICED EQUIDS FROM THE COURTYARD OF CASAS DEL TURUÑUELO SITE (BADAJOZ, SPAIN). IRON AGE TARTESSIAN CULTURE. YARD DISCOVERED AND EXCAVATED SINCE 2017.
The Iron Age site of Casas del Turuñuelo was used repeatedly for ritualized animal sacrifice, according to a multidisciplinary study published November 22, 2023 in the open-access journal PLOS ONE by Mª Pilar Iborra Eres of the Institut Valencià de Conservació, Restauració i Investigació, Spain, Sebastián Celestino Pérez of Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas, Spain, and their colleagues.
Archaeological sites with evidence of major animal sacrifices are rarely known from the Iron Age of the Mediterranean region, and there is a gap between information offered by written sources and by the archaeological record. This makes it difficult to establish a clear understanding of the patterns and protocols of this practice. In this study, researchers examine a well-preserved example of mass animal sacrifice from an Iron Age building in southwest Spain known as Casas del Turuñuelo, associated to Tartessos and dating toward the end of the 5th Century BCE.
The authors examined and dated 6770 bones belonging to 52 sacrificed animals which were buried in three sequential phases. The identified animals were predominantly adult horses, with smaller numbers of cattle and pigs and one dog. In the first two phases, skeletons were mostly complete and unaltered, but in the third phase, skeletons (except equids) show signs of having been processed for food, suggesting that some sort of meal accompanied this ritual. These data indicate that this space was used repeatedly over several years for sacrificial rituals whose practices and purposes varied.
This case study allows researchers to establish details about ritual protocols at this site, including the intentional selection of adult animals rather than young, and the importance of fire evidenced by the presence of burned plant and animal remains. Casas del Turuñuelo also exhibits unique features compared to other sites, such as the high abundance of sacrificed horses. This study advances efforts to contextualize ritual animal sacrifices across Europe.
The authors add: “This study highlights the role of mass animal sacrifices in the context of Iron Age European societies. Zooarchaeological, taphonomic and microstratigraphic investigations shed light on animal sacrifice practices and the Tartessian ritual behavior at the Iron Age site of Casas del Turuñuelo (Badajoz, Spain).”
Citation: Iborra Eres MP, Albizuri S, Gutiérrez Rodríguez M, Jiménez Fragoso J, Lira Garrido J, Martín Cuervo M, et al. (2023) Mass animal sacrifice at casas del Turuñuelo (Guareña, Spain): A unique Tartessian (Iron Age) site in the southwest of the Iberian Peninsula. PLoS ONE 18(11): e0293654. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0293654
Author Countries: Spain, France
Funding: The financial support and the results of this study stem from the National Project Construyendo Tarteso 2.0 I+D+I PID2019-108180GB-I00 ʽAnálisis constructivo, espacial y territorial de un modelo arquitectónico en el valle Medio del Guadianaʼ and from two projects of the Junta de Extremadura: PRI I+D+I IB18131 ‘Estudio de la hecatombe animal del yacimiento de ‘Casas del Turuñuelo’ (Guareña, Badajoz). La gestión de la cabaña equina y sus implicaciones socioeconómicas y rituales en época tartésica’ and PRI I+D+I IB18060 ‘Iberia a través de sus caballos: Estudio integral de la diversidad genética, enfermedades infecciosas y paleopatologías de los caballos extremeños de la Edad del Hierro’.
RESEARCHERS WERE ABLE TO OBTAIN INFORMATION ABOUT THE EARLIEST PHASE OF LIFE OF ADULT HUMANS FROM THE EARLY MIDDLE AGES THROUGH ISOTOPE ANALYSES OF THEIR TEETH.
CREDIT: M. HARBECK, STAATSSAMMLUNG FÜR ANTHROPOLOGIE MÜNCHEN (SNSB-SAM)
A team of researchers led by anthropologist PD Dr. Michaela Harbeck, curator at the Bavarian State Collection for Anthropology in Munich, Germany (SNSB-SAM) and the LMU doctoral student and project collaborator at the State Collection, Maren Velte, were able to obtain information about the earliest phase of life of adult humans from the early Middle Ages through isotope analyses of their teeth. Harbeck and her colleagues analyzed human teeth from various medieval Bavarian cemeteries, mainly from the period around 500 AD. Teeth are formed during childhood and are characterized by little or no remodeling during lifetime. This developmental quality makes them an ideal "archive of childhood". Strontium isotopes, for example, provide an indication of a person's geographical origin, while analyses of carbon and nitrogen provide information to diet. Serial isotope analysis shows the course of nutrition from birth to around 20 years of age. This method reveals the transition process from breast milk feeding in infancy to the inclusion of solid food during early childhood.
Complex migration processes The origins of modern-day Europe date back to a period known as the Migration Period. During this time, which dates between Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, the Western Roman Empire came to an end and profound cultural and political changes began. Many towns, villages and settlements have their origins during this period. In southern Bavaria, the Bavarian duchy emerged from the former Roman province of Raetia secunda in the sixth century. The role migration played in this process remains a point of discourse. Stable strontium isotopes from over 150 early medieval human skeletal remains reveal: At the end of the 5th century, an above-average number of people of non-Bavarian origin migrated to the region of present-day southern Bavaria. These treks involved men as well as women. "Although we cannot narrow down the exact areas of origin for many individuals, we can show that they came from various non-local regions," says Harbeck, lead author of the study.
Certain dietary patterns atypical for Bavaria further suggest a foreign origin of some of the buried individuals. Several women who were shown to have genetic markers characteristic for south-eastern Europe and who also exhibit artificially modified skulls, consumed a diet comprised mainly of millet during their formative years. Millet farming is common in Eastern Europe and even Asia, yet seldom grown in Bavaria at this time. Harbeck states, "These women obviously grew up in other cultures outside of Bavaria. For some women, we were even able to narrow down the approximate time of their diet change and thus when they immigrated to Bavaria. Many of the women from south-eastern Europe, for example, did not immigrate as teenagers - as one might expect in the context of marriage migration at that time - but were already well over 20 years of age when they arrived in Bavaria".
Weaning and complementary food A detailed dietary reconstruction from birth to around the age of ten, including the switch from breast milk to solid food, was conducted for some individuals. These analyses show that women in late antiquity and the early Middle Ages breastfed their children much longer than today. Maren Velte showed in her doctoral thesis: "The weaning from breast milk was completed between the second and third year of life for most of the early Bavarians studied. Women of foreign origin in particular were obviously breastfed longer. Such long breastfeeding periods are known from nomadic peoples, for example."
"Weaning stress" The weaning process, i.e. the gradual addition of solid foods to replace breast milk, always poses a certain health risk to an infant. Children are suddenly and repeatedly exposed to new pathogens, and potentially, malnutrition. Resulting visible malformations in tooth enamel that occur during dental development and are considered identifiable physiological stress markers, can be interpreted to determine at what age children were exposed to these stress events. Infants raised in the period after the social upheavals in Bavaria apparently experienced a particularly high level of "weaning stress": in the 7th century, stress-related developmental changes in dental morphology are particularly frequent. The research team believes that fundamental changes in childhood nutrition, especially with regard to complementary foods, are to blame. Future research will reveal more details
Serial isotope analysis shows the course of nutrition from birth to around 20 years of age.
THE SKULL OF HIPPOPOTAMUS AMPHIBIUS OF CAVA MONTANARI. CRANIUM IN DORSAL (A), VENTRAL (B), RIGHT LATERAL (C), LEFT LATERAL (D) AND POSTERIOR (E) VIEWS. MANDIBLE IN OCCLUSAL (F) RIGHT LATERAL (G) AND LEFT LATERAL (H) VIEWS. SCALE BAR 10 CM.
CREDIT: MECOZZI ET AL., 2023, PLOS ONE, CC-BY 4.0 (HTTPS://CREATIVECOMMONS.ORG/LICENSES/BY/4.0/)
Modern hippos first dispersed in Europe during the Middle Pleistocene, according to a study published November 22, 2023 in the open-access journal PLOS ONE by Beniamino Mecozzi of the Sapienza University of Rome and colleagues.
Modern hippos, Hippopotamus amphibius, arose from African ancestors during the Quaternary, a time when hippos were widespread in Europe. However, the details of the modern species’ origin and dispersal into Europe are unclear and highly debated. In this study, Mecozzi and colleagues provide new insights via analysis of a fossil hippo skull from the study area of Tor di Quinto in Rome.
The skull of Tor di Quinto, currently housed at the Earth Science University Museum of Sapienza University of Rome, is among the most complete hippo specimens known from Pleistocene Europe, but its significance has been unclear due to uncertainties about its age and where exactly it was originally excavated. Following restoration of the skull in 2021, researchers were able to analyze the composition of sediments found within the skull cavities, revealing a match to the local Valle Guilia Formation, indicating a geologic age for this skull between 560,000-460,000 years old. Cranial and dental morphologies also confirmed the identity of this skull as the modern species Hippopotamus amphibius.
This research reveals this skull to be the oldest known fossil of this modern hippo species in Europe. These results shed light on the history of hippos in Europe, reinforcing the hypothesis of an early dispersal during the Middle Pleistocene and bolstering broader understanding of the deep history of these large mammals. Hippos are highly influential species within modern and ancient ecosystems, and they are valuable indicators of past climate and environmental conditions.
The authors add: “Restoring the mammal skeletons exposed at the University Museum of Earth Science, Terra, Sapienza University of Rome offers new data for old fossils. The multidisciplinary study of the skull from Cava Montanari (Roma) redefines the first dispersal of Hippopotamus amphibius in Europe.”
Citation: Mecozzi B, Iannucci A, Mancini M, Tentori D, Cavasinni C, Conti J, et al. (2023) Reinforcing the idea of an early dispersal of Hippopotamus amphibius in Europe: Restoration and multidisciplinary study of the skull from the Middle Pleistocene of Cava Montanari (Rome, central Italy). PLoS ONE 18(11): e0293405. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0293405
Author Countries: Italy, Germany
Funding: Sapienza Università di Roma Grandi Scavi 2019 SA11916B513E7C4B Prof. Raffaele Sardella -Sapienza Università di Roma Grandi Scavi 2020 SA1221816893E2AB Prof. Raffaele Sardella -Sapienza Università di Roma Grandi Scavi 2021 SA12117A87BC3F0A Prof. Raffaele Sardella Sapienza Università di Roma Grandi Scavi 2022 SA1221816893E2AB) Prof. Raffaele Sardella Progetti per Avvio alla Ricerca - Tipo 2 anno 2022”, Sapienza Università di Roma AR222181333C1B88 Dr. Beniamino Mecozzi Contributi premiali per i ricercatori e assegnisti di ricerca per rafforzarne la condizione professionale e potenziare il sistema della ricerca del Lazio” DE G05411, 05/05/2022 Dr. Beniamino Mecozzi.
Reinforcing the idea of an early dispersal of Hippopotamus amphibius in Europe: Restoration and multidisciplinary study of the skull from the Middle Pleistocene of Cava Montanari (Rome, central Italy)
Historical picture of the Tor di Quinto area from the archive of the Istituto Superiore per la Protezione e la Ricerca Ambientale (ISPRA, A, B) and the same area today.
CREDIT
Mecozzi et al., 2023, PLOS ONE, CC-BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)
Reinforcing the idea of an early dispersal of Hippopotamus amphibius in Europe: Restoration and multidisciplinary study of the skull from the Middle Pleistocene of Cava Montanari (Rome, central Italy)
ARTICLE PUBLICATION DATE
22-Nov-2023
Airborne virus infectivity can be reduced by up to 99.98% by commercially available NPBI-based air purifiers, per experiment using real-world concentrations of COVID-19 strains, flu and RSV viruses
THE DRAWING ILLUSTRATES THE DELIVERY OF POSITIVE AND NEGATIVE IONS INTO A ROOM. IONS GENERATED BY THE IN-DUCT NPBI DEVICE (A) ARE DELIVERED INTO THE ROOM THROUGH DIFFUSERS (B) ON THE SUPPLY SIDE OF THE HVAC SYSTEM.
Airborne virus infectivity can be reduced by up to 99.98% by commercially available NPBI-based air purifiers, per experiment using real-world concentrations of COVID-19 strains, flu and RSV viruses
Funding: The authors received no specific funding for this work. All research and 3rd party laboratory testing was funded entirely by GPS Air. Edward Sobek is an employee of GPS Air and Dwayne Elias is a paid expert consultant for GPS Air.
Nitrous oxide (N2O) is not only one of the most important long-lived greenhouse gases but also the current main stratospheric ozone-depleting substance. China is among the top N2O-emitting countries, so it is important to identify and quantify N2O sources to support making mitigation strategies. However, existing national inventories focus on either single or short-term N2O sources, and fail to provide long-term and full-scale N2O profiles including both natural and anthropogenic sources.
The total N2O emissions in China were 2126.1 Gg N2O yr−1 for 2010–2020, with 18.2% and 81.8% from natural and anthropogenic sources, respectively (Figure 1). Agriculture was the largest N2O sources, accounting for 46.3 of the total emissions, among which 22.5% was caused by synthetic nitrogen fertilizer applications. Industry, energy, and waste accounted for 15.5%, 14.5%, and 5.4% of the total emissions, respectively, with adipic acid production, electricity, and wastewater treatment being their individual largest N2O sources.
Chinese N2O emissions increased from 889.6 Gg N2O yr-1 in 1980 to 2295.0 Gg N2O yr-1 in 2020, while agriculture made the largest contribution to this increase. However, this study revealed that agriculture N2O emissions declined steadily since the release of the Zero Growth in Fertilizer Plan in 2015 by the Chinese government. In the meantime, industrial and energetic sources exceeded agriculture and became the fastest-accelerating N2O sources in China due to the increasing demand for adipic acid and fossil fuels (Figure 2).
“This FAN 2020 dataset will provide up-to-date information for improving national N2O inventory and further support developing point-targeted mitigation policies. We think it will contribute to the global and national climate actions within the framework of SDG 13”, says Dr. Jing Wei from Sun Yat-sen University in Zhuhai, one of the leaders of this study.
Dr. Wenping Yuan and Dr. Jing Wei from Sun Yat-sen University, made the plan to produce a long-term dataset of full-scale N2O emissions in China and designed the experiment. Ms. Minqi Liang, a PhD candidate, Ms. Zheyan Zhou, a Master’s candidate, and Ms. Peiyang Ren, a PhD candidate at Sun Yat-sen University, collected the raw data and performed the calculation. All the authors contributed to the writing of the manuscript.
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See the article:
Four decades of full-scale nitrous oxide emission inventory in China. https://doi.org/10.1093/nsr/nwad285
Kyoto, Japan -- As with the business of logistics, where having multiple routes to deliver goods to the same destination raises reliability, network-dependent consumerism depends on multiple networks having a host computer with multiple connections operating in sync.
With digital platforms for business becoming the norm, industry experience reminds us of the risks when relying on a single network and concentrating on only a few operators.
A research group including Kyoto University studied the relationship between single-homing consumers -- who use only one particular platform -- and multi-homing consumers. The team presented a new framework demonstrating whether proportionately more multi-homing consumers lead to significant efficiency gains when integrating two business platforms.
"Our study is related to the economics of imperfect competition, a field covering various market-related issues that has become increasingly important as information and communication technology advances," says first author Takanori Adachi of KyotoU's Graduate School of Management and Graduate School of Economics.
The platform used in a single-homing situation naturally takes on a dominant role for consumers. However, there is a growing tendency to focus on the multi-homing's need for policy guidance when considering the nature of digital regulation and policy because, proportionately, more consumers use multiple platforms.
"In addition, an increase in the degree of multi-homing needs a more considerable reduction in the cost for allowing a business consolidation. It also creates higher barriers to entry for new platform firms," explains Mark Trembley of the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.
"We must note, therefore, under multi-homing situations, competition authorities may need to be more cautious about potential harms of platform mergers and entry barriers," adds Susumu Sato of Hitotsubashi University.
Researchers must often make do with scant data availability on platform businesses.
"We were delighted that our deductive arguments based on economic theory models and public databases, such as the one used in this study, effectively provided us a clearer picture of how platform economics performs in the real world," says Adachi.
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The paper "Platform Oligopoly with Endogenous Homing: Implications for Mergers and Free Entry" appeared on 9 October 2023 in The Journal of Industrial Economics, with doi: 10.1111/joie.12345
About Kyoto University
Kyoto University is one of Japan and Asia's premier research institutions, founded in 1897 and responsible for producing numerous Nobel laureates and winners of other prestigious international prizes. A broad curriculum across the arts and sciences at undergraduate and graduate levels complements several research centers, facilities, and offices around Japan and the world. For more information, please see: http://www.kyoto-u.ac.jp/en
Platform Oligopoly with Endogenous Homing: Implications for Mergers and Free Entry
Experts urge a united global vision, definitions and targets for ‘responsible sourcing’ of minerals needed for green transition
4-year EU-funded project offers roadmaps for key industry sectors: Renewable energy, mobility, and electric and electronic equipment, advice to governments, civil society; Special cases: Latin America, Africa, China
IN A REPORT, THE FOUR-YEAR EU-FUNDED RE-SOURCING PROJECT PROPOSES ADOPTING THE GLOBAL VISION OF A CIRCULAR ECONOMY AND REDUCED RESOURCE CONSUMPTION BY 2050 AND OUTLINES A SERIES OF INTERIM MILESTONES AND TARGETS FOR THREE KEY INDUSTRIAL SECTORS: RENEWABLE ENERGY, MOBILITY, AND ELECTRIC AND ELECTRONIC EQUIPMENT.
Experts have delivered a sweeping prescription to governments, civil society and industry for a globally coordinated approach to the responsible sourcing of raw materials needed to achieve a circular green economy.
In a report, the four-year EU-funded RE-SOURCING project proposes adopting the global vision of a circular economy and reduced resource consumption by 2050 and outlines a series of interim milestones and targets for three key industrial sectors: renewable energy, mobility, and electric and electronic equipment.
The report (at https://bit.ly/3uqXlqT from 22 November) acknowledges several firms and governments are showing leadership in responsible sourcing to address troubling global environmental, social and economic issues, including:
Biodiversity and habitat protection, land, air and water pollution, climate change
Access to clean water, air & health care, gender equality, human rights, respecting land rights, labour rights, and safeguarding the artisanal and small-scale miners
Corruption and money laundering, promoting sustainable growth and development, and enabling national / local industrial development
At the same time, they underline that “the corporate behaviour that existed in the preceding century is no longer acceptable. More responsible and sustainable practices need to be undertaken and evidenced.”
Adds the report that the underlying message from stakeholders across the board is that “industry and its supply chains must incorporate and reflect societal values in their operations and business management” and “power imbalances, where they impede the ability of a group to affect the decisions that impact them, need to be addressed.”
Lead author Masuma Farooki says achieving responsible sourcing begins with a universally accepted definition and commonly agreed targets for 2050, proposing the following in the report:
1: Circular economy and decreased resource consumption
2: Meeting the Paris Agreement climate goals and environmental sustainability
3: Social sustainability and responsible production
4: Responsible procurement
5: Level-playing field and international cooperation
International cooperation, the report notes, means helping companies, regions, and countries improve practices and achieve agreed standards. A level playing field “is paramount for achieving all other targets.”
The report strongly underlines the need to address the power imbalance between local communities, workers and other affected stakeholders in decision-making, enabling their meaningful participation in decision-making.
Transparency is also fundamental. Consumers need to know how elements of the products they buy are derived, with adequate information to choose sustainably sourced products.
Key points in the report include:
Companies should not pass along to communities and workers the costs of negative impacts, such as pollution and land degradation
To reduce corruption and the financing of violence that have often accompanied extractive activity, transparency is needed in financial payments and material flows in supply chains
Standards and guidelines based on multi-stakeholder consultations, as well as certification schemes, and government regulations and legislation, are needed, citing several examples from the US and Europe
Among many recommendations to policymakers:
Strengthen international cooperation to develop harmonized mining standards for responsible extraction
Enable responsible mining in Europe (no more ‘burden-shifting’ to other regions)
Update mining regulations based on existing voluntary certification schemes
Eco-design policies for solar PVs and wind turbines
Lower taxes on, and give preference to, goods manufactured with higher social and environmental standards
Recycling:
Support recycling activities and create markets for secondary raw materials
Require Life Cycle Assessments for all new technologies/products
Develop and implement environmental regulations for wind turbine and solar PV manufacturing and recycling
Wider Policy:
Harmonize environmental policies of EU Member States and coordinate responsible sourcing reporting criteria
Protect human rights defenders and support civil society capacity building
Make supply chain due diligence mandatory for all
Ensure that raw materials and products imported from outside the EU fulfill the same sustainability requirements as operations inside the EU
Recommendations for industry include:
Mining:
Fleet electrification and decreased energy intensity
Plan for mine closure from the beginning of project development
Support local procurement
Manufacturing:
Include eco-design from the beginning of product development to improve recyclability
Include ‘social life cycle assessment’ in product development
Firmly eliminate modern slavery and forced labour in the supply chain of solar PV and wind turbines
Recycling:
Improve collaboration between supply chain stages, research, and academia to substitute non-recyclable materials
Cooperate with other sectors to improve reuse of non-recyclable materials.
Corporate strategies:
Environment and climate reporting, including greenhouse gas accounting and reporting for the entire supply chain
Tailor-made climate protection projects
International application of environmental and social standards
The report provides specific roadmaps and recommendations for policymakers and companies in the renewable energy, mobility sector, and the electronic product sectors.
It also takes a special look at three regions: Latin America, Africa, and China.
Latin American mining projects can face particularly strong opposition from local communities. According to the Environmental Justice Atlas (EJAtlas 2023), 45% of reported conflicts worldwide are in Latin America, where projects are often located near sensitive, biodiverse ecosystems, many of which are home to vulnerable communities.
A key regional priority, therefore, is “strengthening of social capital and civil society trust in the mining sector with focus on the local communities.”
African regional challenges include “trustful and transparent collaboration” by industry, local governments, and others. “If the mining sector, communities, supply chain and governments work together, the outlook for the industry on the continent will be bright”
Among other key considerations for Africa: supporting and improving artisanal and small-scale mining operations, which plays a crucial role in obtaining many raw materials essential for the green transition.
China, meanwhile, dominates the critical green-energy technology minerals supply chain with rising investments abroad. A recent report associated China, however, with over 100 human rights abuses, environmental harms, workers’ rights violations and other allegations over the past two years in Indonesia, Peru, Congo, Myanmar, Zimbabwe and other countries.
It also notes China’s creation of guidelines to align companies’ due diligence with international standards.
The report adds that similar allegations are made against mining operations linked to Canadian, USA, UK, Australian and European companies and investors.
In the end, the report cautions, “the findings just underline growing concerns that the green transition to renewable energy is repeating unjust business practices that have long dominated fossil-fuel and mineral extractions.”
Comments
Stefanie Degreif, OEKO Institute, Germany: “Significant and systemic changes are needed now and over the next decades to achieve climate targets and make the lithium-ion battery chain more responsible and sustainable. There is no time to waste - we need to act now! Changes are needed and cannot be postponed to the next generation or next legislation period”
Andreas Endl, Vienna University of Economics and Business (WU), Austria: “Over the course of the last four years, we investigated closely and informed decision makers about the fast-moving and immensely dynamic discourse on responsible sourcing. While progress has been made on many fronts with stricter legislation and successful business cases, we still have to go a long way to improve the livelihoods of affected people and respect the integrity of the environment”
Michael Tost, Montanuniversität Leoben, Austria: “A sustainable energy transition can be successfully achieved only if all actors including policy makers, industry, and civil society realize their responsibility in openly discussing and engaging with affected communities to create trust.”
Shahrzad Manoochehri, World Resources Forum Association, Switzerland: “Due to the complexity and interconnected nature of mineral value chains, achieving responsible sourcing at a global level requires mutual understanding, a fair competitive environment, and the establishment of shared common goals that are respected by all stakeholders across different regions.”
Background
In 1998, amid mounting internal and external pressures, nine international mining companies united to establish the Global Mining Initiative. Their goal was to understand and transform their operations per societal expectations. A surge in community discord, violent incidents, opposition to mining projects, accusations of corruption and bribery, and the threat of nationalization by host governments had pushed these companies to act. Reputational damage and share price concerns further fueled their drive for change.
Simultaneously, international policy and politics began to emphasize securing a sustainable future and acknowledging the dire consequences of environmental damage.
Consumer awareness and citizenship advocacy also started pushing for more sustainable public policies, making the environmental agenda a central political topic. Businesses and investors, initially slowly and later in growing numbers, began to prioritize sustainable sourcing practices within their supply chains.
Addressing corruption and bribery in the extractive sector became a significant government issue. This collective but not necessarily coordinated movement aimed to transform behaviours in the extractive sector and its associated supply chains.
Today, the green transition and the shift toward renewable energy, heavily relies on mineral consumption. However, the adverse impacts on ecosystems, human rights, and economic inequality are no longer acceptable. The mining sector and its associated supply chains are steadfastly committed to becoming more responsible in their operations, with sustainability as a core objective.
Responsible sourcing (RS) practices have emerged as a vital tool in achieving these objectives and minimizing negative impacts within mineral supply chains. By 2023, RS is no longer a distant ideal but a practical reality for businesses and policymakers, and it is increasingly demanded by Civil Society Organizations (CSOs).
To tackle the growing challenge of implementing RS, the RE-SOURCING Global Stakeholder Platform was initiated in 2020. Funded under the European Union's Horizon 2020 program, this four-year project, coordinated by the Institute for Managing Sustainability at the Vienna University of Economics and Business Administration, assembled international partners within and outside the EU to create the RE-SOURCING Platform, including OEKO Institut (Germany), World Resources Forum Association (Switzerland), Montanuniversität Leoben (Austria), Tallinn University of Technology (Estonia), MineHutte Intelligence (UK), SOMO (Netherlands), WWF (Germany), EIT Raw Materials (Germany), Luleå University of Technology (Sweden, AHK Business Center (Chile) and SRK Consulting (South Africa).
The project's vision was to advance the understanding of RS as a mandatory requirement in mineral supply chains among EU and international stakeholders. This involved fostering the development of a globally accepted definition of RS, facilitating the implementation of RS practices through knowledge exchange, creating visions and roadmaps and Good Practice Guidance for three key EU sectors – renewable energy, mobility, and electronics – and advocating for RS in international political arenas.
The RE-SOURCING Project focused on:
Facilitating a globally accepted definition of RS.
Brainstorming incentives to support RS and responsible business conduct
Enabling exchanges of information and promoting RS among stakeholders
Fostering the emergence of RS in international political fora
Supporting the European Innovation Partnership on Raw Materials
Outputs of the RE-SOURCING Project were tailored to:
EU and international business stakeholders:
Increased capacity of decision-makers to implement responsible business conduct.
Better understanding and awareness of RS in three key sectors: renewable energy, mobility, and electrical and electronic equipment.
Facilitated implementation of lasting and stable sectoral framework conditions for RS.
EU policymakers:
Increased capacity for RS policy design and implementation.
Innovative ideas on policy recommendations for stimulating RS in the private sector.
Better understanding and awareness of RS in three key sectors: renewable energy, mobility, and electrical and electronic equipment.
Civil society:
Integration of sustainable development and environmental agendas into the RS discourse.
Establishment of a global level playing field for RS in international political fora and business agendas.
Enhanced understanding and awareness of RS in three key sectors: renewable energy, mobility, and electrical electronic equipment.
Throughout the project, numerous reports, executive summaries, policy briefings, Good Practice Guidance, workshops, events, and webinars were conducted, ultimately informing a final report.
The move to responsible sourcing is now an integral part of the global conversation on sustainability, and it's reshaping the way industries operate and impact the world.
According to the report: “The proposed RS framework is adaptable and allows for diverse pathways based on regional priorities. It aims to coordinate and consolidate various RS approaches without losing their unique features, providing a common destination while accommodating different speeds of progress.”
The report presents “a Rights-Based Approach framework for responsible sourcing in mineral supply chains, aiming to consolidate and align existing approaches, promote international cooperation, and ensure equitable distribution of benefits while accommodating regional variations.”
