Intervention at CSD 19

A. Introduction

1. Thanks to the Chair, Andrew Goledzinowski, for the opportunity to intervene on behalf
of business and industry in the UNCSD 19 session on mining.

2. Reflection on the discussion

(1) While the mining, minerals and metals industry brings significant challenges, it
also presents huge opportunities if undertaken in a way that reflects respect for
people and ecosystems.
(2) Mining has a key contribution to make in the achievement of the poverty and
hunger reduction, gender equity, health, education, environmental and
developmental enhancement goals contained within the Millennium Development
Goals.
(3) Mining companies are action and results oriented; they want to play their part in
addressing the serious issues facing the world today.

(4) Most of these issues cannot be addressed solely by government, solely by

companies, solely by civil society organizations orsolely by communities. They
require concerted joint action if the needed progress is to be made.

(5) The Intergovernmental Forum on Mining, Minerals, Metals and Sustainable

Development’s recently released Mining Policy Framework is a useful contribution
to the deliberations at UNCSD 19.

B. A note on the International Council on Mining and Metals (ICMM)

1. ICMM was created as the delivery mechanism for a change agenda – driven by
the ideas of sustainability applied to the mining and metals industry – that emerged
from Mining, Minerals and Sustainable Development (MMSD), a two-year global
review of mining practices that took place between 2000 and 2002.
2. Tens of thousands of individuals took part – from communities, Indigenous
Peoples, academia, governments, international donor organizations, civil society
organizations, service industries, organized labour and the many parts of the mining
industry itself.
3. ICMM now serves as an industry leadership group championing improved
environmental and social performance and strengthened collaborative action to
address challenges facing society.
4. Our 18 member companies employ close to a million individuals out of the 2.5
million employed in the formal mining and metals sector around the world. They
 have some 800 operations in 60 countries. Through the 30 industry associations
who come together through ICMM, we have reach to another 1500 companies
across the world.
5. All member companies are committed to combat corruption and are signatories
to the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI).

C. What we need is action, the issues are clear

There is a range of tools and initiatives across many of the most critical mining and
sustainable development issues. However, they are not applied universally.

The time now is not for more high-level dialogue: the need is for better implementation.
Efforts going forward should be focused on change ‘on-the-ground’. For some issues, this
may mean it is more appropriate to focus on regional or national/sub-national efforts. What
is needed are practical, actionable steps which will start to make a real difference on how
mining can - and does, contribute to sustainable development.

The following are significant issues/challenges for which the mining/metals industry has a
significant contribution to make:

1. Reporting and assurance

• certification along the full supply chain
• ensuring that sustainable development reporting drives performance.

2. The socio-economic contribution of mining, minerals and metals

• addressing poverty reduction
• ensuring effective in-country revenue management
• strengthening regional development planning
• strengthening the use of local content
• enhancing local social investment
• creating effective dispute resolution systems
• championing business and human rights through the concrete implementation
of John Ruggie’s “protect, respect and remedy” framework
• focusing on building meaningful relationships between indigenous people and
the mining, minerals and metals industry.

3. Artisanal and Small-Scale Mining (ASM). Over 100 million people worldwide
depend on ASM as a livelihood. The approaches and tools needed to address the
many serious issues related to what is largely an informal sector are very different
to the ones which apply to formal mining. ASM has had much attention from
different organizations over the years and attracted much academic research, but
 practical efforts to address ASM issues in the countries in which it takes place
remain under-resourced.

4. Environment
• addressing the growing water crisis
• addressing the growing concern about biodiversity
• addressing the complex range of land use-related issues
• metal leaching and Acid Rock (or Mine) Drainage (ARD)
• protected Areas – inconsistencies around criteria and implementation of
protected areas
• tailings dams safety – the tools for safe management of tailings dams exist, but
poor application of these management practices means that we continue to
have tailings failures
• designing and implementing effective mine closure – including both
environmental and social/community aspects
• addressing the legacy sites that exist as a result of inadequate past practices.

5. Climate change and energy

• contributing in a major way to addressing the complex set of climate change an
energy-related issues.

6. Worker health and safety; community health and safety

• building a culture of health and safety in mining/metals operations and
communities around the world.

7. Materials stewardship
• pursuing the goal of sustainable consumption and production
• seeking systems of chemicals management that protect the interests of society
and the world in which we live.

D. The key is effective and efficient collaboration

1. The issues noted above cannot be addressed solely by government, solely by

companies, solely by civil society organizations or solely by communities. They
require concerted joint action if the needed progress is to be made. There is no other
lesson that is more important.
2. We have demonstrated that working together the resource curse can be eliminated.
We know:
(1) with a clear, consistent regulatory regime, mining foreign direct investment (FDI)
and mining fiscal revenues can contribute to steady macro-economic development
(2) poverty reduction as a result of mining and metals activities is real: 40% in Chile,
60% in Region II. In Ghana there was greatest poverty reduction in Accra and the
four main mining regions
(3) this is not, however, a universal outcome; two key factors are: (1) capacity (at
national, regional and local levels) to manage the mining rent and (2) good
governance (again, at national, regional and local levels).

3. Working collaboratively does not mean that everybody does everything – there are
certain responsibilities and related decisions that must fall solely to individual parties.

4. Key is addressing the distribution of costs, benefits, risks and responsibilities.

Determining that distribution in a way that is acceptable to the various interests – not
only today but also between this generation and those who will follow – is not a task
that society has ever discharged very effectively.

5. Making such a determination is only possible through dialogue and sharing that is
respectful and marked by integrity and care for people and the ecosystem – the same
values that are enshrined in the foundation of the United Nations.

6. For the last decade, ICMM and its member companies and associations have been
slowly but surely learning how we can most effectively contribute to sustainable
development. That learning process continues.

7. We look forward to the results of UNCSD’s review in this cycle of testing progress
since Agenda 21 was first created; we very much appreciate the opportunity to
participate in this exchange.