The United States has become the 79th member country of the Intergovernmental Forum on Mining, Minerals, Metals and Sustainable Development (IGF).
“By joining the IGF, the United States strengthens its dedication to mining that seeks poverty reduction, inclusive growth, social development, and environmental stewardship,” announced the United States’ State Department in a statement.
“The United States will continue to forge a path to improve resource governance and decision making by governments involved in mining, as it has done with the Energy Resource Governance Initiative (ERGI).”
ERGI was founded in 2019 by the governments of Australia, Botswana, Canada, Peru, and the United States to help build sustainable supply chains and promote sound sector governance for the minerals vital to technologies powering the energy transition. “IGF and ERGI efforts will dovetail to foster the adoption of responsible mining practices,” the government said.
“I am happy to welcome the United States on behalf of the IGF Secretariat,” said Greg Radford, Director, IGF. “We look forward to helping the country pursue international cooperation on minerals and metals to support a clean energy transition.”
Mining has deep roots in the country, and it is one of the world’s most advanced mining nations. The United States is a significant producer of coal, gold, copper as well as other metals and industrial minerals. It is also home to many major mining companies operating across the globe.
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 governments of Canada and the Netherlands.