A BETTER WAY FORWARD
We can and must hold mining corporations accountable. We can protect Indigenous Peoples’ rights, ecosystems, and the wellbeing of communities in the mining sector and mineral supply chains. Real accountability demands bold action from governments, investors, buyers, and more.
KEY SOLUTIONS
01
Mandatory Protections
Voluntary standards like the Consolidated Mining Standard won’t take the place of strong legal protections for human rights and the environment. As we work for stronger voluntary standards, we also need to create and uphold strong, well-enforced legal frameworks.
02
Respect for Indigenous Peoples’ Rights
The mining industry must fully recognize Indigenous Peoples’ sovereignty, governance systems, treaties, and right to give or withhold Free, Prior, and Informed Consent. Indigenous Peoples must be guaranteed full participation in decision-making in all phases: exploration, environmental and social impact studies, project development, operation, and closure, including the right to withhold their consent at all stages.
03
Protections for People and Places
Standards must follow global best practices for protecting people and places. They must be robust and detailed. They should uphold human rights, Indigenous Peoples’ rights, labor rights, and worker health and safety. They should protect water, land, ecosystems, biodiversity, wildlife, and public health. They should have financial guarantees for safety and for closing facilities and reclaiming their sites.
04
Benefits and Protections for Workers and Communities
Mining operations must protect workers’ health and safety and create living wage jobs. Facilities must not harm biodiversity or culturally significant sites. Communities must have the ability to approve or deny projects and to have legally-binding community benefits agreements. When Indigenous Peoples’ are affected by mining, these agreements must be negotiated with Indigenous governing institutions and protect sacred sites, cultural sites, and Indigenous and traditional livelihoods.
05
Continuous Progress
Even the minimum criteria for mining standards must promote progress and improvement. They must be transparent and rigorous. Audits must be independent. Companies should be required to improve over time based on the findings. This gives buyers, investors, and others credible information. It drives the industry as a whole towards more responsible actions.
The Framework
Effective voluntary standards and certifications must meet these minimum benchmarks.
Accountable Decisionmaking
Standards should be governed by multiple stakeholders, including affected communities, Indigenous Peoples, NGOs, and workers that are elected by their constituencies. Moreover, for progress to be made, there can’t be limitations on representatives to publicly express their disagreement with parts of the standard that are harmful or in tension. The Consolidated Mining Standard falls short of both these fundamentals. The Board selection process is being led by the creators of the Standard, not elected by constituencies and affected groups.
Real Accountability for Harms
Communities and people whose rights or wellbeing are affected should be able to easily report harm and have it remedied. Grievance mechanisms that do this should be culturally appropriate and managed independently. Grievance mechanisms must also include Indigenous-specific pathways grounded in Indigenous law and customary practices, and they must be accessible, culturally safe and available in Indigenous languages to ensure real usability by affected communities.
Audits That Drive Improvement
Audits are only as strong as the standards they are based on. Audit firms must be independent and financially separate from mining companies. Audits must happen on the ground with trained auditors. There must be broad participation and sufficient time to interview workers and affected communities. Results of the audit and plans to correct failings documented in the audit must be time bound, measurable, and publicly reported on. And the assurance process should have the legitimacy of being led by an entity with a track record of including community reporting and concerns in the audit.
Transparency
The Consolidated Mining Standard should require companies to publicly disclose project-level payments to governments to reduce risks of corruption, fraud, and tax evasion. It should also require companies to disclose full contracts and related documents including permitting documents, country-by-country tax reporting, and beneficial ownership.
THE MINING STANDARDS ACCOUNTABILITY ALLIANCE IS DEMANDING BETTER.
Investors, downstream mineral buyers, consumers, and organizations can all play a role in demanding strong and useful standards for the mining industry.
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