Climate change and population growth have significant potential to be destabilising factors in Africa and can affect water sources, agricultural land and subsistence farming adversely, resulting in population displacement.
Moreover, the water-intensive African mining industry could be greatly affected, independent consultancy SRK Consulting tells Mining Weekly.
SRK principal consultant and social scientist Lisl Fair states that, according to the 2018 Climate Change Vulnerability Index by research firm Verisk Maplecroft, nine of the ten countries that are most vulnerable to extreme weather are in sub-Saharan Africa.
“The Minerals Council South Africa has warned that the local mining sector is fast approaching a deficit in terms of the demand for water and the available supply,” says SRK partner and principal mining engineer Marcin Wertz.
SRK Contributors:
Andrew van Zyl, Marcin Wertz, Lisl Fair, Jessica Edwards
Read the full article on Mining Weekly
