Digging deeper: Collaborative approaches to responsible mineral sourcing
Digging deeper: Collaborative approaches to responsible mineral sourcing
Following the OECD Forum last week, Stephanie and Theresa highlight the importance of engaging with different actors to ensure the just transition is just also for those that are impacted the most.
Minerals sustain modern living. They are crucial in our daily lives, powering electronics, vehicles, and construction materials. They're vital for energy production, medical devices, and agriculture. Everyday items like cosmetics, household goods, and communication systems rely on minerals, as do jewelry and essential products like salt and mineral water. The mining of minerals is part of most supply chains at some point upstream.
That's why we participated last week in the OECD Forum on Responsible Mineral Supply Chains. Since its adoption almost ten years ago, the OECD Due Diligence Guidance for Responsible Supply Chains of Minerals from Conflict-Affected and High-Risk Areas has become the leading international and industry standard. It provides recommendations to help companies respect human rights and avoid contributing to conflict through their mineral purchasing decisions and practices. The annual OECD Forum provides a deep dive into the challenges and opportunities faced by mining communities. Many sessions included not only industry leaders and associations but also representatives from affected communities and workers.
We heard insights from Myanmar, a significant source of the global supply of heavy rare earth elements, where the lack of regulatory frameworks fuels conflict, informality, and human rights violations.
We also participated in a session where Women Affected by Mining United in Action (WAMUA) shared their experiences from mining communities in South Africa, highlighting the importance of safeguarding vulnerable groups. Here, it is not the absence of regulatory frameworks but the lack of enforcement that leads to significant impacts on people and the environment.
Cleotilde Chuquicondo, an artisanal mining leader from Southern Peru, shared the challenges she faces in copper mining. According to official government data, artisanal mining does not exist in Peru, yet estimates suggest there are 50,000 - 100,000 artisanal miners who are invisible contributors to global supply chains without access to any support system.
Understanding local realities and knowing which initiatives are working to develop good practices in the sector is vital for our role as human rights due diligence advisors at CORE. This understanding is crucial for helping businesses identify their human rights risk exposure and plan appropriate preventive measures.
This becomes even more critical considering the vast quantities of minerals needed to accelerate the transition to a clean energy future. Minerals and metals are essential for wind turbines, solar panels, and batteries for electric vehicles. However, research[1] reveals that 54% of projects extracting clean energy minerals overlap with Indigenous lands. Indigenous peoples have raised concerns about more mining on their lands and territories, emphasizing the need for governments and corporations to obtain the “free, prior and informed consent” of Indigenous peoples, as recognized in the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.
Energy transition minerals are essential to tackling climate change, and the demand for these minerals is only growing, along with dependencies on certain minerals and regions. It is important to address these significant challenges, learn from the past, and ensure mining projects contribute to a fair and just transition – both downstream and upstream. As this article by the Centre for Social Responsibility in Mining from the University of Queensland puts it: “We must start to ask: what kind of justice are we seeking in the ‘just transition’, and for whom?” We cannot look away because the issue is complex. While solutions are not yet fully developed, it is crucial to continue working on them.
Numerous initiatives are dedicated to developing different approaches and good practices, jointly with communities, industries, and governments. At CORE, we closely monitor developments, liaise with initiatives and organizations working on good practice solutions for the sector, and use this knowledge and network to develop sustainable solutions with and for our clients.
Theresa and Stephanie for the CORE team
[1] Owen, J.R., Kemp, D., Lechner, A.M. et al. Energy transition minerals and their intersection with land-connected peoples. Nat Sustain 6, 203–211 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41893-022-00994-6