Shining light on a wicked problem: how do we measure the good in our industry? Sarah-Joy Pierce, Director, Strategic Mining Communications
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he mining industry is not the first industry to come across a wicked problem. What’s a wicked problem, you may ask? It’s a social or cultural issue or concern that’s hard to explain and even harder – sometimes impossible – to solve.
For us, the problem centres around how our industry fits into a decarbonising world. When it comes to the global decarbonisation agenda, there’s so many ‘strings’ making up the knot of our wicked problem that it can truly seem impossible. Just flick through this Yearbook and you’ll see them: the necessity of steel for coal-making and of critical minerals for batterymaking balanced against calls to stop mining, the intrinsic importance of the resources industry to regional communities versus the impacts we can have on the environment, the role of affordable energy in developing nations, or even the reliance of Australia’s economy on coal exports. How we handle the wicked problem of where the resources industry fits in a decarbonising future will shape the economy of our state and our nation for years to come. Wicked problems and where to find them Since nothing under the sun is truly new, why don’t we look to how other industries have traversed the 78
BBMC Yearbook 2021
space between ‘wicked problem’ and ‘way forward’? Fast fashion (stay with me, this is relevant to a male-dominated industry) is a wicked problem. Companies can now manufacture, distribute and retail fashion products in a matter of weeks – not even based on ‘seasons’ anymore, just to meet consumer demand. However, in meeting that demand, there are environmental effects, labour rights violations, and a huge amount of waste produced. The effects, both positive and negative, hit on an individual consumer level, a society level and a macro government and global level. To address this wicked problem, the Baptist World Aid organisation in Australia publishes their annual Ethical Fashion Guide. A decade or two ago this wouldn’t even have registered with consumers, but now it can (and does) affect purchasing decisions and stock prices. Companies also use good rankings as a reputational boost, attracting shoppers with ethical concerns. This ranking and rating system isn’t a solution to the
wicked problem, but it certainly helps clarify what the problem is, and who’s taking steps to solve it. It’s also important to note that ‘wicked problem’ doesn’t necessarily mean wicked industry. A commonly discussed wicked problem is the rise of antibiotic resistance – a problem that the medical sector will have to solve in the coming years, and that the CDC calls ‘one of the biggest health challenges of our time’. This has individual impacts, society-level impacts, and certainly far-reaching global implications. However, stopping the use of antibiotics causes a bigger problem than it solves – so further research is necessary to find a solution to this wicked problem. It's not hard to draw parallels between either of these industries and the wicked problem facing the resources industry. None of it can be solved overnight, or without significant effort and policy change. But there are people and organisations working now in this space towards sustainable outcomes. So, if we can’t immediately solve the problem of our future, what can we do about our present?
