Standards for Mining Must Respect People and Environment

Standards that credit companies for “responsibly” producing minerals must be strong and center Indigenous Peoples and affected communities.

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What is the CMSI

CMSI: A new proposed standard is a dangerous illusion

The mining industry’s proposed Consolidated Mining Standard is too weak. Companies anywhere in the world could use the standard to certify their minerals as responsibly produced. But the draft doesn’t even meet current industry norms and commitments. The Initiative would be managed by Copper Mark. It could make it even harder to tell which companies are upholding high standards and which are evading accountability.

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THE PROBLEM

The mining industry has a record of harm. It can’t be trusted to write its own rules.

Case Study

Mining & Smelting in One of the World’s Most Polluted Towns

Jan 13, 2026 — 2 min read

“Given that Anglo American South Africa knew about children’s death from lead poisoning back in the late 1960s, what is stopping you from turning your attention towards the ongoing suffering of the people of Kabwe, to keep the promise of your own promises to remedy where you have done harm, and to do no harm?” said said Lydia Moyo, Kabwe community members and mother of two children impacted by the mine’s toxic pollution.

Case Study

Batu Hijau Mine Complaints

Jan 12, 2026 — 3 min read

“Our ancestral lands embody not only physical territory but the soul and history of our people,” said Indigenous leader Datu Sukanda. “To disregard our voices is to undermine our very existence.”

Case Study

Freeport McMoRan’s Grasberg Mine: Hazardous and Inhumane

Jan 12, 2026 — 2 min read

Freeport McMoRan’s Grasberg Mine is one of the world’s largest open-pit and underground copper and gold mines. Mining operations and tailings, which are laden with hazardous waste, repeatedly displace local communities, damage food supplies, and destroy aquatic life closely tied to traditional livelihoods.

Who loses

Indigenous Peoples

Standards that fail to uphold Indigenous Peoples’ rights to Free, Prior, and Informed Consent also lead to other destruction and harms including erosion of language, erasure of cultural heritage and knowledge systems, and violations of internationally recognized collective rights.

Communities & the Places We Call Home

Weak voluntary standards greenwash human rights abuses. They accelerate the environmental destruction that contributes to displacement, loss of livelihoods, risks to cultural survival, and ecosystem collapse.

Downstream Mineral Purchasers

Companies that buy and use minerals could face real risks from using the Consolidated Mining Standard. When environmental destruction and human rights abuses are not addressed, it undermines public trust and can create community resistance at the mine site. That can lead to supply chain disruptions, financial losses, legal challenges, and reputational damage.

Investors

Robust standards are vital to support sustainable, long-term value for investors. Weak standards like the Consolidated Mining Standard report vague information. This creates uncertainties and reputational risks for investors when screening new or existing investments in the mining sector.

Consumers

Certain consumers are driven to buy goods that are sustainably and ethically produced. This shifts how companies source and produce materials. Greenwashing at any point in the supply chain makes it harder for consumers to make informed decisions and undermines business efforts to meet these higher customer expectations.

The Transition to a More Equitable Economy

We need to transition to a clean economy that works for everyone — from communities affected by mining, to workers across supply chains, to consumers. The Consolidated Mining Standard Initiative threatens to re-entrench existing inequality rather than support a more equitable mineral economy and real solutions.

What must be done

Strong and well-enforced laws and regulations are the best way to ensure mining companies respect people and the environment.

In their absence, any voluntary standards must be rigorous. They must share power and decision-making with directly impacted groups and other non-mining groups. They need to make sure companies are meaningfully improving their practices. And they must not weaken existing norms in the industry or lower the bar for what is considered “responsible.”

The current draft of the Consolidated Mining Standard does not meet these basic elements. We demand that the Consolidated Mining Standard Initiative:

Respect Indigenous Peoples’ rights

Respect Indigenous Peoples’ rights as affirmed in international law and jurisprudence. This means upholding Free, Prior, and Informed Consent as a minimum requirement, recognizing collective land tenure and governance systems, and protecting sovereignty and self determination. These requirements must be met across all levels and all performance areas without exceptions, loopholes, or carveouts.

Align with the highest standards

The Consolidated Mining Standard Initiative must follow international laws, principles, and widely-accepted norms that protect human rights, support full transparency, and promote continuous improvement.

Create clear, measurable criteria

Incorporate clear, measurable criteria that tells corporations and facilities how to implement the standard and to support effective audits.

Implement a strong auditing system

Develop a system that can promote independent, reliable audits of mine sites. At a minimum, this means clear guidance and adequate accreditation for auditors, limited company power in the process, meaningful engagement with rightsholders, and good oversight of the auditing process.

Integrate public input

Meaningfully engage with and integrate input from workers, Indigenous Peoples, frontline communities, other groups whose rights are affected, and the public. The second round of public input should include input on all areas of the standard, as promised.

SUPPORT OUR CAMPAIGN

Investors, downstream mineral buyers, consumers, organizations, Indigenous Peoples, workers, and frontline communities can all play a role in demanding strong and useful standards for the mining industry.

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