The International Council on Mining and Metals (ICMM) has updated its responsible mining principles for the first time since 2003, with a greater focus on transparency of operations and recognition of local communities. Following years of criticism that member organisations were ignoring the older, looser laws, we consider the new regulations, and whether they could help clean up mining.
The ICMM announced updates to its responsible mining practice requirements in February this year. The move is said to be responding to shifts in stakeholder expectations regarding environmental and social best practice and marks the second leading metals institution in the UK to take heed from changing perceptions of mining industry responsibilities. The first was seen in October 2019, when the London Metal Exchange released its new responsible sourcing rules – also emphasising increased transparency in supply chains, and pushing for equal treatment of large-scale and artisanal mining, among other things.
Such changes are only the latest sign of mining corporations feeling the squeeze from building scrutiny over ethical production and sourcing practices. While questions are certainly being raised regarding the validity of traditional regulations, whether we can expect to see similar updates rolled out on a wider scale (and whether companies will actually take heed of the changes) remains to be seen. The ICMM’s pledge
Modifications to the ICMM’s requirements have a strong focus on ethical social practice, including increased transparency from supply chains and minimizing impacts of operations on host communities. Speaking with ICMM Chief Operating Officer Aidan Davy, he says the aims of the Mining Principles are, more specifically, to “maximise the industry’s benefits to host communities and minimise negative impacts by effectively managing issues of concern to society”.
Validation for the new rules will cover all member assets – representing around 650 operations. Production from these projects makes up a significant amount of materials sold and traded globally- accounting for over 40% of major commodities such as iron ore, copper and platinum, as well as 35% of bauxite and 25% of gold.
According to Davy, these new regulations will cover performance areas including biodiversity, gender, human rights due diligence, labour rights, pollution and waste. He added that the changes are to be implemented with the hope that they will ‘drive performance improvements at scale’.
In terms of the motivation for changing the existing regulations, Davy issued a public statement pointing to changing societal expectations when it comes to the responsibility of […]
