Mapping biodiversity risks of global mineral production through an integrated ecological footprint framework

Mineral and metal production underpins modern economies and the low-carbon transition, yet it increasingly competes with biodiversity conservation. Rising demand for minerals which is driven by renewable energy systems and infrastructure expansion—has intensified pressures on ecosystems through land transformation, CO₂ emissions, and freshwater depletion. These impacts often overlap spatially, amplifying ecological risks in sensitive landscapes, but most sustainability assessments typically examine them separately. As a result, biodiversity-relevant interactions and trade-offs remain insufficiently understood.

This study applies an expanded ecological footprint (EF) framework to quantify the global environmental burden of mineral production across 5,495 mines and 34 primary commodities using average annual production data from 2000–2015. For each mine, we estimated water consumption, CO₂ emissions, and land transformation using mineral-specific intensity factors from an extensive life cycle assessment (LCA) based literature review. These pressures were translated into three EF components—built-up land, carbon absorption land, and water consumption land—and spatially aggregated to watersheds to identify vulnerable ecological regions.

Results show that carbon absorption land dominates the total EF globally, reflecting the large area theoretically required to offset mining-related CO₂ emissions. However, biodiversity-relevant hotspots emerge where the EF of water consumption land becomes the primary driver of ecological pressure, especially for copper and gold mines in arid and heavily exploited watersheds. In these basins, mining intensifies competition for limited freshwater resources, heightening the risks to species. Although land transformation contributes less to global totals, it is locally significant for commodities such as lithium, where surface disturbance occurs in fragile ecosystems.

The Pareto frontier analysis reveals strong trade-offs: while some mines combine high production with relatively low EF, many operations—particularly in water-scarce regions—cannot improve production efficiency without increasing biodiversity threats. By jointly evaluating land, carbon, and water impacts, this study provides a spatially explicit basis for identifying biodiversity-sensitive mining regions and supports strategies that reconcile mineral supply with planetary ecological limits.