19 February 2019: If carefully managed, the extractive sector presents enormous opportunities for advancing sustainable development, particularly in low-income countries. This is one of the main conclusions of the latest report of the International Resource Panel (IRP) of the UN Environment Programme (UNEP). The report will be launched at the forthcoming fourth session of the UN Environment Assembly (UNEA-4).

Titled, ‘Mineral Resource Governance in the 21st Century: Gearing Extractive Industries Towards Sustainable Development,’ the IRP report notes that despite moves to decouple economies from resource use and promote greater recycling, extractive resources will continue to play a central role in driving the global economy. Among drivers for increased demand for minerals and metals, the report highlights emerging economies, expanding populations, global middle class growth and increasing urbanization, along with the global transition to clean energy production and the switch to electric vehicles.

Based on a review of approximately 80 existing international instruments, the Panel calls for concerted efforts at the global level to consolidate existing rules and regulations in the mining sector, and to agree on international standards in areas such as transparency and codes of conduct. Specific areas of concern highlighted in the report include enduring challenges such as commodity price volatility, lack of linkages between mining and other economic sectors, inadequate management of environmental impacts, and sociopolitical and geopolitical risks of mining.

The Panel proposes the establishment of a new governance framework, referred to as the “Sustainable Development Licence to Operate,” that would incorporate consensus-based principles, policy options and best practices that are compatible with the SDGs and other international policy commitments.

The report further discusses a number of practical steps to deliver the proposed international governance architecture that include reaching an international consensus regarding the normative content and structure of the Sustainable Development Licence to Operate, informed by expert inputs from a ‘High-level Panel on Mining for Sustainable Development.’ It also proposes the creation of an International Mineral Agency to facilitate the sharing of relevant information and data.

Proposals for national and regional actions contained in the report include calls for governments to develop bilateral and plurilateral agreements regarding security of supply of raw materials and resource-driven development. The report suggests that periodic reporting of progress towards sustainable development objectives could be enabled through a global ‘State of the Extractive Sector’ review or equivalent process.

UNEA-4 will convene under the theme, ‘Innovative Solutions for Environmental Challenges and Sustainable Consumption and Production,’ from 11-15 March 2019, in Nairobi, Kenya. [Publication: Mineral Resource Governance in the 21st Century: Gearing Extractive Industries Towards Sustainable Development: Summary for Policymakers and Business Leaders] [Publication Landing Page] [IRP/UNEP Press Release]