The Intergovernmental Forum on Mining, Minerals, Metals and Sustainable Development (IGF) is launching a dialogue on Environmental and Social Impact Assessment and Management in Mining: Good Practices and Innovation Through the Covid-19 Pandemic.
This initiative will be hosted on the Goxi platform and is designed to generate more discussion, information, and clarity around environmental and social governance, particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic. The dialogue will examine case studies and feature facilitation from international experts including co-authors of the IGF’s recent publication: Guidance for Governments: Improving Legal Frameworks for Environmental and Social Impact Assessment and Management. We invite you to review the executive summary (English, French, Spanish) and full guidance document (English, French, Spanish coming soon).
Discussion facilitation will also be supported by representatives from three partnering organizations: the Colorado School of Mines, Sustainable Development Strategies Group, and Transparency International’s Accountable Mining Programme.
The dialogue will focus on following three topics, which will be opened for discussion in stages between November 18 and December 11, 2020.
Topics
- ESIA Roles (Opens November 18)
- What roles should government, mining companies, and communities play in ESIA processes and how have these roles changed amid the COVID-19 pandemic? And in each of these roles, what aspects of the ESIA process are most challenging?
- Engagement Methods (Opens November 25)
- What are concrete tools for effective community engagement and information sharing during ESIA and related processes, particularly in the COVID-19 era?
- ESIA in Exploration (Opens December 2)
- How should the ESIA process apply to the early stages of mineral development, including the exploration phase? Has COVID-19 made any difference to the adoption and implementation of ESIAs at the exploration phase?
Register Early
To participate in the consultations, you must have a Goxi account. If you are not a Goxi member, please register in advance to ensure that you have everything you need to log in and participate when the dialogue opens on Nov 18.
The IGF supports more than 75 member nations committed to leveraging mining for sustainable development to ensure negative impacts are limited and financial benefits are shared. It is devoted to optimizing the benefits of mining to achieve poverty reduction, inclusive growth, social development, and environmental stewardship. The International Institute for Sustainable Development has served as Secretariat for the IGF since October 2015. Core funding is provided by the Government of Canada.