Mining, Minerals and Sustainable Development

Laying the Foundations for Positive Change

WHAT IS MMSD?

A two year effort

With three goals:

1 Develop new approaches to sustainability issues in the mineral life cycle.

2 Demonstrate that those approaches can be effective by making clear progress on a limited number of key issues.

3 Develop by consensus both an agenda for future work after the project life and the structures which will carry it forward.

FUNDAMENTAL CHALLENGES OF SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT

Staying within the capacity of ecosystems to absorb change.

Providing an adequate standard of living for those who do not have enough.

Creating conditions in which individuals and groups can develop their potential.

Developing systems of governance which promote and sustain these goals.

WHY HAS THE SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT AGENDA BECOME SO

URGENT? Globalization means that many problems are no longer simply local or

national concerns. Growing evidence that ecosystems are seriously out of balance, posing

new and poorly understood risks. The problem of poverty is inseparably linked with global ecological

problems which cannot be solved unless people have a stake in the outcome and the resources to manage the problems.

Governance systems have not yet emerged for the reality of a globalized economy.

Increased awareness and expectations flowing from the new world information regime.

SUSTAINABLE SOCIETIES WOULD EMBODY

Production consumption and living patterns consistent with ecological balance.

Dramatic reduction of the numbers of people living in poverty.

Greater opportunity to develop individual and group potential.

More open, cooperative, transparent and consensual systems of governance.

THE TRANSITION TO A MORE SUSTAINABLE SOCIETY

Will occur.

Will affect fundamentally the way we live.

Will change the conditions under which business is done.

Cannot be achieved by any one industry or sector acting alone - it is fundamentally a joint enterprise.

Could be orderly or chaotic.

IN A MORE SUSTAINABLE SOCIETY People will continue to explore for, produce, process, consume,

recycle, and dispose of mineral products.

The way this is done will have to be considerably different.

The mineral industries will have to promote ecosystem health.

And promote greater economic and social well being, with special attention to the problems of the poor.

And support more open cooperative, transparent and consensual forms of governance.

MMSD PROJECT OBJECTIVE

To identify how mining and minerals can best contribute to the global transition to sustainable development.

CHANGE Requires action by many different actors (e.g. mining companies,

buyers of minerals, indigenous organizations, national governments, non-governmental organizations, local government).

Therefore requires these actors to move toward a shared set of objectives.

They cannot be expected to do this absent clear and understood rules of engagement– which reduce the risks to them of participating– which offer them a chance to achieve some of their objectives– which they themselves help to develop

OBSTACLES The problems are numerous, complex, diverse, and sometimes poorly

understood. This makes it hard to develop a broad global agenda.

There is a serious lack of trust among many of the key actors which makes it hard to work together.

Identifying broadly agreed solutions is challenging enough but there is also a serious disagreement about mechanisms for implementing those solutions (e.g. ombudsman processes, codes of conduct, legislation, best practice guides, tax incentives, etc.)

This project will last less than two more years.

WHERE DO WE START?

By developing, through consensus, a set of understood rules for engagement.

By identifying a limited number of high priority projects and developing carefully structured processes around them.

By working with, rather than competing with, the many other institutions which have something to contribute.

WHO IS INVOLVED IN MMSD?

MMSD has four sets of key actors:

– The Sponsors Group

– The Assurance Group

– The Work Group

– Regional Partner Organisations

THE MMSD SPONSORS GROUP Provides project funding and resources.

Started with nine (now 31) major mining companies but will expand October 1 to include both industry and non-industry members.

Does not control project outcomes.

Convened by World Business Council for Sustainable Development.

Draft charter on MMSD web site.

Contact through Project Coordinator Richard Sandbrook.

THE MMSD ASSURANCE GROUP

Balanced to account for great variety of interests and stakeholder groups.

Currently 16 but will expand to 24 members.

Charged with assuring independence, integrity and objectivity of process.

Draft charter appears on MMSD web site.

ASSURANCE GROUP MEMBERS

Roger Augustine Patricia Caswell Douglas Fraser Jay Hair (interim chair) Antonio La Vina Daniel Meilan Glen Miller Duma Nkosi

Ligia Noronha Manuel Pulgar-Vidal Leon Rajaobelina Damien Roland Charles Secrett Osvaldo Sunkel Helmut Weidner Doug Yearley

THE MMSD WORK GROUP

Headquartered at the International Institute for Environment and Development in London.

Charged with administering and developing the project.

Will develop a series of specific projects in consultation with stakeholders, each of which will be focused on a critical emerging theme.

Most projects will be done in cooperation with other organizations already active in the subject matter.

Project Rapporteur

Nick Robins

Project Director

Luke Danielson

ProjectAdministrator

Sarah Henson

CommunicationsCoordinator

Ray Doucet

Assis tant ProjectManager

Elisabeth Wood

ResearchManager

Caroline Digby

CoordinatorStakeholderEngagement

Frank McShane

Personal &Administrative

Assis tant

Lucy Brain-Gabbott

Implementation

Patricio Leyton

Research Fellows

Anne-Marie Fleury; BenoitGervais; Silvia Kyeyune;; (others)

THE MMSD WORK GROUP

MMSD REGIONAL PARTNERSHIPS

Will be developed in five to six of the principal mineral producing and consuming regions.

Will be developed through consultation and discussion with regional stakeholders.

Regional programs will have a high degree of autonomy under rules satisfactory to regional stakeholders.

PROPOSED REGIONAL CENTERS

North America

Southern Africa

Southeast Asia

Europe

Australasia

South America

The project cannot at this stage cover the whole world but aims to develop regional partnerships in:

REGIONAL CENTERS

Will have their own governing structures in a form satisfactory to principal stakeholders.

Will receive some funding from the central project.

Will have their own regional sponsorship groups.

Will divide their focus between cooperating in the development of the global project and pursuing objectives they get at a regional level.

REGIONAL STRUCTURE

RegionalStakeholder

Meeting

RegionalSteering

Committee

RegionalSponsors

Group

Project Headquarters

Communication

Implementation

Research

StakeholderEngagement Regional

PartnerInstitution

Research

Communication

Implementation

StakeholderEngagement

REGIONAL WORKSHOPS

In some other important centres of mineral production and consumption, the project intends to develop multi-stakeholder research workshops.

We are considering such an approach in:– the former Soviet Union/CIS

– China

– Japan

World Business Council for Sustainable

Development

International Institute for

Environment & Development

AssuranceGroup

SponsorGroup

ProjectTeam

Project Co-ordinatorRichard Sandbrook

Project DirectorLuke Danielson

Employment relationship

Contractual relationship

Reports to/seeks agreement with

Services and upholds the terms of reference

Work in partnership

THE PROJECT HAS FOUR CORE ELEMENTS

ImplementationStrategy

Research andAnalysis

Information, Communication,

Dissemination

StakeholderEngagement

INDIVIDUAL ACTIVITIES

Will incorporate each of the four elements:

– Stakeholder engagement

– Research and analysis

– Information, communication, dissemination

– Implementation and follow up

INDIVIDUAL ACTIVITIES

Will be centered on strategic issues in mining and minerals industries.

Will be selected for their importance to stakeholders.

Will have their own timetables and outputs.

Will have their own governance and engagement processes.

The following are examples.

PROPOSED ACTIVITY No. 1

Rules of Engagement

– Any attempt to engage stakeholders can be successful only if there are understood rules about what engagement means.

– Those rules can only be developed by the affected stakeholders themselves.

– We propose two workshops which will include a broad range of stakeholders worldwide.

– The participants will be asked to develop a set of understandings which will govern participation in all MMSD activities.

– These may be supplemented as needed in individual activities.

PROPOSED ACTIVITY No. 2

Baseline Assessment of Current Corporate Practice in Sustainability

– Corporate approaches to managing sustainability factors vary significantly.

– Without a clear understanding of current practice, it is difficult to identify problems or measure progress.

– We propose a detailed survey of current practice of the sixty largest mining companies.

PROPOSED ACTIVITY No. 3

Standards for Mining Finance

– Conditions of finance have a great influence in how projects are developed.

– Social, environmental and economic issues are an important risk factor in assessing projects.

– There is a lack of consensus on how these risk factors should be evaluated and reflected in the decision to finance projects.

– We propose an ongoing process of dialogue at developing clearer and more broadly accepted standards for assessing these risks and how this should affect financing.

PROPOSED ACTIVITY No. 4Large Volume Wastes

– Mining worldwide generates large volumes of waste.

– Many sustainability issues revolve around how that waste is managed.

– We propose a series of research workshops on key issues, including:• tailings stability• acid drainage• riverine disposal• ocean disposal

– Followed by broad stakeholder dialogue on how to improve handling of these wastes.

THESE PROPOSED ACTIVITIES

Are in the design stage.

Cannot be fully developed without broad consultation and agreement.

Need their own governance structures and processes of engagement.

All of which must be acceptable to potential partners.

Must be developed with a clear concept of how they can be put into action.

OTHER ACTIVITIES

MMSD in broad consultation with other actors will continue to develop other specific activities of focus as the project moves forward.

Priorities include:

– Specific concerns of indigenous communities.– Management of mineral revenues.– Environmental concerns over metals and the relationship to trade

and markets.– Economic, social and cultural impacts on local communities.

WHAT CAN THIS PROJECT ACCOMPLISH?

MMSD can do three things in its two year existence:

1 Develop new approaches for collaborative resolution of key problems.

2 Demonstrate that those approaches are yielding progress on some issues.

3 Develop a more broadly shared agenda for work beyond the life of the project.

CONTACT INFORMATION

web site: www.iied.org/mmsd

email: mmsd@iied.org

address: 1a Doughty Street

London WC1N 2PH

United Kingdom

telephone: +44 (0)20 7269 1630

fax: +44 (0)20 7831 6189