Abstract
As the world shifts away from fossil fuels, we will need to produce materials for vast arrays of wind turbines, solar panels, electric vehicles, batteries, fuel cells, hydrogen and more. Demand for the raw materials, from aggregates to metals, needed to build these and other components of the infrastructure required for decarbonisation will skyrocket (Hund et al., 2020). Securing access to these raw materials is essential for building a sustainable low-carbon economy, but how can this be carried out responsibly and fairly? Improving the sustainability of all aspects of the extractive industries is vital, otherwise the looming supply shortage in the coming decades will lead to a range of geopolitical, economic, and environmental issues (Lee et al., 2020). This Special Issue on "Sustainability in the Extractive Industries" puts a spotlight on the important and varied role that Earth Science plays in the raw materials economy. The published papers within this special issue tackle the issues related to the sustainability of the extractive industry to ensure economic growth as well as social and environmental protection: Renn et al. shed some light on the conundrum between society's need for exploring and extracting the metals and the unsustainable perception of mining. This article reviews how the sustainability criteria can be applied to the extractive sector. This encompasses environmental, economic, and social sustainability aspects whose policies need to be homogenized worldwide. They highlight three key aspects to ensure sustainability in political instruments and investment policies in order to achieve the desired results. The article emphasizes the need for transparent and inclusive stakeholder participation as well as a holistic understanding of the impact of extractives activities. The authors propose that investors providing capital for companies operating in the extractive industries should place sustainability indicators into their decisionmaking with the aim of improving governance of the extractive industry for increased economic prosperity and environmental protection. Lawley et al. show that integrating biodiversity variables in prospectivity models is essential to ensure a responsible supply of battery metals. This article suggests that a quantitative approach bringing together machine learning tools and models with geological and ecological databases is efficient in tackling the conundrum our society faces, helping to balance areas that can be exploited and those needing to be preserved. The authors recommended the application of artificial intelligence aimed at lowering the ecological and environmental risks of the natural resources sector. Troll and Arndt focus on the European case which is characterized by an almost complete dependency on importation for critical raw materials, thus delocalizing the negative environmental impact of the extractive industry. The authors highlight that Europe has a moral responsibility to change that paradigm and regain sovereignty by initiating a