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Oyunkhishig, Uuganbadrakh

University of British Columbia

This thesis examines factors driving discrepancies in Canadian mining companies' scores on the Towards Sustainable Mining (TSM) Biodiversity Conservation Management Protocol. TSM is a voluntary program by the Mining Association of Canada (MAC) that aims to improve the industry's environmental and social performance. While TSM has been widely adopted, initial observations revealed noticeable variation in TSM Biodiversity Protocol’s performance scores among companies. This research aims to understand these variations and identify opportunities for improvement, contributing to both TSM's efficacy and biodiversity conservation efforts. The study employed a mixed-methods approach, analyzing ten years of TSM performance data from 33 mining companies and surveying 13 companies actively involved in TSM. The survey, distributed through MAC, gathered data on biodiversity practices, challenges, resources, and perceptions. Quantitative data were analyzed using comparative analysis to reveal performance trends. For qualitative survey, sentiment analysis was used to uncover underlying issues. Quantitative analysis showed that the biodiversity protocol consistently scored lower than other TSM protocols like Aboriginal & Community Outreach. This suggests unequal prioritization within the TSM framework. Lower-performing companies perceived the biodiversity protocol as more complex, potentially hindered by limited resources and internal advocacy. Data limitations and expertise gaps emerged as key implementation challenges, especially for lower performers. Resource allocation analysis confirmed this disparity, with lower-performing companies often reporting fewer resources for biodiversity. A lack of incentives, particularly for lower performers, was also identified as a potential motivational barrier. The study concludes that several interconnected factors, including perceived complexity, internal advocacy, resource allocation, training, and stakeholder engagement, drive TSM biodiversity protocol score discrepancies. Lower complexity, strong advocacy, and adequate resources are linked to higher performance. Conversely, limitations in these areas, coupled with a lack of incentives and coordination challenges, hinder progress. These findings underscore the need for a multifaceted approach to improve the TSM Biodiversity Protocol. This research provides valuable insights, advocating a shift from compliance-driven to steward-ship-driven biodiversity conservation within the mining sector. Future research should explore the protocol's long-term impacts, investigate best practices, and examine the roles of stakeholder engagement and technology in advancing biodiversity management.

Text

2024-12-24

Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International

http://hdl.handle.net/2429/89994

Mining Engineering

University of British Columbia

UBCV

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/