With 7.4 billion people currently on the planet –increasing to an expected 9.7 billion by the year 2050 – there will be an inevitable increase in the demand for natural resources leading to increasing rates of depletion and environmental degradation. Nonetheless, the minerals and energy industries impact upon our world not only environmentally, but also economically, culturally, and politically.

Two decades ago national priorities worldwide focused on development needs and the significant benefits from natural resource utilisation. Environmental protection was perceived at a local scale with the responsibility to maintain the quality of life, and protection of the environment around industrial facilities mainly resting on the shoulders of dedicated environmental professionals. At the same time, market pressures and the cost of environmental protection and remediation prohibited concerted action, resulting in the general ethos of solving problems as they arise. However attitudes started to change at the turn of the century when even the local environmental impacts became global news, whilst awareness of global impacts, such as climate change, became a broader concern.

Professor Anna Korre is a modeller of natural resources and the environmental impacts of their exploitation. She works on the development of engineering tools to assess the impacts of the minerals and energy industries in terms of operational performance, environmental footprint and cost, making it easier for the leaders of industry to respond to new regulations with positive, greener and viable solutions. In her inaugural lecture Anna will discuss gauging risk in the resources industry before laying out a vision for how our views of environmental considerations and green approaches to resource exploitation might change in the future.

About the speaker

Anna Korre is a Greek/British environmental engineer who researches into minerals, energy and water resources focusing on the assessment of environmental impacts and risks of industrial activities and the sustainable exploitation/utilisation of natural resources.

Anna was educated at 5th Lyceum Zografou, Greece and the University of Athens, studying geology at undergraduate level graduating top of her class. She was awarded a Marie Curie EU Fellowship and joined Imperial College in October 1993, where she was awarded a PhD in 1997.

Anna Korre's academic career has been at Imperial College starting as a research fellow in 1997. She holds visiting posts at the International Postgraduate School, Josef Stefan Institute, Slovenia (Visiting Professor, 2006) and the Henan Polytechnic University, Research Institute of Coal Mine Methane Geology, China (Distinguished Professor, 2012).

A risky ride on natural resources – where do we go?