Mining must be carried out sustainably<\/p>\n
Emil Salim, Former Environment Minister, Indonesia<\/p>\n
This is indeed an important opportunity to move the mining
\nindustry yet a further step into the realms of sustainable
\ndevelopment. I am aware that the mining industry has been
\ncontinuously moving forward in the quest to achieve sustainable
\ndevelopment and commend all the initiatives it has embarked upon
\nin this direction.<\/p>\n
During the 20th century, the mining industry world-wide has
\nplayed a significant role in development. Its products have
\ncontributed to almost all avenues of life. The revenue generated
\nfrom this industry has been used to finance development in many
\ncountries around the world.<\/p>\n
The World Bank estimates about 3.9 billion people live in
\ntoday's 56 \"mining countries.\" About 3.5 billion of them live in
\n51 developing and economic transition countries where mining
\ncontributes more than six percent to exports and domestic mining
\nsectors are large.<\/p>\n
Yet, having ended the 20th century we look back and see that
\ndespite all the development that has taken place, among the 3.5
\nbillion people in these countries, about 1.5 billion people still
\nlive in dire poverty on less than US$2 a day, making up nearly
\ntwo thirds of the world's poorest population.<\/p>\n
Along side this poverty in many places the environment has
\nalso suffered seriously -- contributing even more to the
\nimpoverishment of local communities. In many cases the mining
\nindustry and other burgeoning industries, have contributed to
\nthis environmental damage.<\/p>\n
We cannot continue this unsustainable pattern of production
\nand development if we aspire to a sustainable future for the
\ncoming generations of humankind. For the 21st century sustainable
\ndevelopment must become the norm.<\/p>\n
When I talk about sustainable development, I am referring to a
\ndevelopment supported by three equally strong pillars. A
\ndevelopment where the same level of importance is given to
\nacquiring economic gain, environmental protection and improvement
\nas well as social capital enrichment. These three pillars will
\nconstitute the constraints within which any mining industry of
\nthe 21st century must operate.<\/p>\n
The success of this industry shall not only be measured by the
\neconomic profit it is able to generate, but also by its ability
\nto improve standards of living for local communities and to
\nprotect its surrounding environment. If in the past, mining
\nindustries and development in general were allowed to create a
\n\"coin\" that on one side shined brightly with profit, with another
\nside dulled by the legacy of environmental damage and social
\ndislocation that often lasts long after the mining operations
\nhave ceased, this can not continue to be the case anymore.<\/p>\n
Most important mining countries in the world belong in the
\n\"low income country\" group. The mining industry operating in
\nthese kinds of countries are faced by a situation where they are
\ndearly needed on one hand, and not demanded to stick to strict
\nenvironmental and social standards on the other.<\/p>\n
This alone puts the mining industry, especially those
\nbelonging to the multi national corporations, in an extremely
\npowerful position, but also in a position of many serious
\nchallenges especially in relation to conflict with local
\ncommunities and global public scrutiny.<\/p>\n
If a company settles to operate \"merely\" within the
\npermissible standards of a developing country, it will often come
\nrudely face to face in conflict with local communities, and its
\nenvironmental legacy will surely come under the scrutiny of
\ninternational advocacy agencies. To avoid conflict with local
\ncommunities and the negative impacts of scrutiny from the global
\nsociety it would be prudent to always adopt \"best practice\"
\nstandards wherever mining is being carried out, regardless of the
\nfact whether the host country has imposed less stringent
\nrequirements.<\/p>\n
In this context five principles are of crucial importance.<\/p>\n
First: Sharing benefits beyond revenue management.<\/p>\n
It is often pointed out that resource rich countries remain to
\nbe poor in the last century. The vast amounts of revenue earned
\nfrom these industries have not contributed to poverty alleviation
\nin the respective countries. Revenue management is an extremely
\nimportant factor in determining weather revenue from the mining
\nsector actually benefits society as a whole. In this case revenue
\nmanagement becomes a governance issue, and often is beyond the
\ncontrol of a mining company.<\/p>\n
Revenue management often does not and cannot address the issue
\nof benefit sharing from the perspective of the local communities
\nin which mining companies are operating.<\/p>\n
Let us have a close look at the places in which mining
\ncompanies are operating in the developing parts of the world.
\nMost of these companies are in remote areas, where indigenous
\ncommunities still live from the lands -- far away from the
\nprotection or the services provided by the state. Often times
\nthese communities look upon these lands as their ancestral
\ndomains, sometimes they are recognized, but often not recognized
\nby the state. Even if the local community is not indigenous, it
\nwill definitely be faced the environment and social hazards that
\na mining operation could generate.<\/p>\n
How should a mining company approach this situation? How can a
\nmining company contribute to the enrichment of the local social
\ncapital that belongs to this community, and help protect the
\nenvironment that the local community depends upon?<\/p>\n
One way could be to approach the local community as a true
\nstakeholder and partner in the company -- thus they would receive
\na negotiated share in the challenge as well as in reaping the
\nbenefits. More exploration needs to go into the direction of
\ndeveloping different models for this kind of direct benefit
\nsharing with local communities, be they indigenous or not.
\nMeanwhile good revenue management should continue as the
\nresponsibility of the governments.<\/p>\n
Second: Environmental offsets and cleaner state of the art
\ntechnologies.<\/p>\n
Technologies are improving gradually. The best practice goal
\nof closed systems operating with no significant impacts is being
\nachieved in the pharmaceutical industries and has started to be
\nachieved by extractive industry leaders. In terms of
\ntechnological improvements in the mining industry I would like to
\nsee the environmental offset approach become one standard for
\nbest practice.<\/p>\n
Offsets were codified for air pollution following the U.S.'
\n1970 Clean Air Act whereby a firm can expand or build a new plant
\nif it reduces emissions at existing plants by more than the
\namount to be produced at the new facility. Each U.S. state
\nmandates the ratio of pollution reduced to pollution added, which
\ncan be 10:1. In addition the new plant is required to install
\ncontrol technology to achieve the lowest achievable emission rate
\nregardless of cost. These are not yet mandatory in most
\ndeveloping nations. But it is implicit in the Convention of
\nClimate Change.<\/p>\n
The article is taken from Emil Salim's speech in the
\nconference entitled Global Mining Initiative on Recourcing The
\nFuture in Toronto.<\/p>",
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