Assessing the Status of Sustainable Development Goals in Global Mining Area

Shurui Zhang, Yan Sun, Yan Zhang, Xinxin Chen, Zhanbin Luo and Fu Chen ()
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Shurui Zhang: College of Public Administration, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing 221116, China
Yan Sun: College of Public Administration, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing 221116, China
Yan Zhang: Engineering Research Center of Ministry of Education for Mine Ecological Restoration, Xuzhou 221008, China
Xinxin Chen: Engineering Research Center of Ministry of Education for Mine Ecological Restoration, Xuzhou 221008, China
Zhanbin Luo: School of Public Administration, Hohai University, Nanjing 211000, China
Fu Chen: School of Public Administration, Hohai University, Nanjing 211000, China

Land, 2025, vol. 14, issue 12, 1-21

Abstract: Mining is an important industry for the achievement of sustainable development goals (SDGs), but it results in a significant amount of degraded land worldwide, thereby affecting local social and ecological sustainability. Little is known about the extent to which this degraded land adheres to the current SDGs. In this study, based on public geographic information data, the status of SDG 11 (Sustainable Cities and Communities) and SDG 15 (Life on Land) for global mine sites was comprehensively assessed. The results show that (1) the global aggregation index for SDG 11 and 15 in mining areas increased from 23.94 in 2000 to 24.48 in 2020, generally exhibiting a positive trend. (2) For SDG 11, all four indicators indicate improvement, suggesting enhancement of the sustainability of cities and communities surrounding global mined land, as well as urban development, mining activities, and economic growth. In contrast, regarding SDG 15, there were noticeable improvements in the water body area and land reclamation ratio, but the forest coverage ratio and net ecosystem productivity significantly declined, indicating continued stress on ecosystems caused by mining. (3) Less than 1% of mines globally met the green grade in SDG 11, and around 97% were categorized as red grade. For SDG 15, no mines reached the green grade, and at least 99.74% were categorized as red grade mines. (4) Globally, the status has exhibited obvious spatial clustering, and the region with a better status is in the equatorial region. There has been obvious spatial heterogeneity within countries, and mine sites near urban areas have had a better status according to these SDGs. The main influencing factors on the status of mines, according to the SDGs, include the degree of mining disturbance, ecosystem recovery capacity, and urban expansion. Overall, the global status of mines according to the SDGs is far from expectation, indicating a considerable gap from achieving sustainable mining and necessitating efforts to improve human habitats and restore ecosystems in mining areas. Future endeavors should focus on strengthening site specific assessment and long-term monitoring of the global SDGs in mining areas to provide foundational data and scientific evidence for sustainable mining and the realization of SDGs.

Keywords: sustainable development; geographic information; mining; ecological restoration; land (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q15 Q2 Q24 Q28 Q5 R14 R52 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
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