The transformative potential of European mineral extraction: scratching the surface or digging deep for the sustainability transformation?

While there is a clear call for transformative change towards sustainability in different sectors, an ongoing and strong critique about the inability to initiate this change prevails in the mineral extraction sector. Although there are singular approaches to deciding how the extractive sector can progress towards transformative change, we lack systematic investigations to assess this sector’s performance. Therefore, this paper aims to illustrate the current situation and the potential to generate transformative change in the European extractive sector, using the leverage point approach (LPA) by Donella Meadows. We conducted desk research on European research projects and industry reports, complemented by a survey of extractive sector experts. Overall, our results indicate that the European extractive sector cannot reflect a transformative approach. First, extractive practices do not equally address the LPA spectrum required for initiating a fundamental systemic change. Second, the predominance of industry actors may hamper the effective implementation of extractive practices across the LP spectrum. We conclude that, for a transformative approach, the extractive sector needs to consider fundamental changes in the system’s intent (i.e. objectives, values and worldviews). Actors need to move beyond conceptions of supply provisions, targeting and incorporating the demand side and the need to substantially lower mineral resource consumption at the individual (behaviour change) and societal level (societal change).