OECD

The minerals and metals industries, including the mining sector, have been associated with human rights violations and serious environmental impacts. How to address human rights violations and conflict related risks has been taken up broadly in due diligence guidance and company practice in mineral supply chains. Sector specific practical guidance on environmental issues is missing so far.

Sources of natural hazards, such as heavy rainfall, flooding, winter storms or lightning, can cause major accidents. Climate change can change the intensity, frequency and local distribution of such sources of hazards. Operators of installations in which large quantities of hazardous substances are present and the authorities responsible for them must therefore adapt their risk management.

Examples like the earthquake and tsunamis 2011 in Japan and the devastating hurricane Harvey 2017 in the USA, make aware that natural hazards not just cause destruction of private houses but also led to accidents at installations containing hazardous substances. They can cause releases of hazardous substances, fire, and explosions endangering people and significantly pollute the environment.

International cooperation is an important part of the Federal Environment Agency’s work. Environmental protection is a global task today, which is why policy advice in this field must also be directed towards international developments and actors .

The global use of natural resources and the associated environmental impacts have increased continuously in recent decades. Materials such as metals and biomass play a key role in the transformation towards a greenhouse gas-neutral economy.

Nanotechnology involves research and development, production and processing of structures and materials on a nanometre scale. Nanotechnology deals with the production and application of processes and materials composed of structurally definable particles on a scale of about 100 nanometres (1 nm = 10-9 m) or less in at least one dimension.