Claire Cote
Centre for Water in the Minerals Industry, SMI
Areas of research & interest:
- Carbon offsets & markets
- Climate change
- Critical minerals & resources
- Environment
- Land use & planning
- Policy & regulation
- Agriculture & environment
- Carbon & environmental markets
- Policy & regulation
- Land Use & Regional Planning
BIO
Dr Claire Cote has extensive experience in the description, understanding and analysis of the water systems of mining and mineral processing operations. She led an Australian Coal Association Research Program study that benchmarked water use in the Australian coal mining industry and the development of a water accounting framework for the minerals industry. She has carried out audits of water issues faced by copper mines in Northern Chile and has assisted mining companies in developing their long-term water strategies.
She combines her technical knowledge with an awareness of the broader context of social responsibility and sustainability. Her main interest lies in undertaking integration research to achieve sustainable water management. Reaching agreement about water management at regional scale can be an intensely political process because all water users have interests. It requires adoption of an approach that combines the description and understanding of technical mine water aspects with other scientific, social science and economic skills. Claire is currently developing projects that aim at better integrating various system components, such as water, energy, ecosystem health, community values and human rights considerations.
