Since 2012, more people have died in anti-mining than any other industry, according to a new Global Witness report published in September. Many land and environmental protection – especially, those from Indigenous communities – risk their lives, homes, well-being and even their lives if they stand in the way of industrial activities.
We also know that more than half of the copper, nickel, lithium and other so-called “precious” minerals that mining companies are trying to exploit are on or near Indigenous territories – some of them the most vibrant and functional ecosystem. , in large part thanks to the stewardship of Indigenous communities.
Last month, the trade association of the largest companies in the world, representing thirty percent of the sector, the International Council on Metals and Mining (ICMM), published a statement of policies of the Indigenous Peoples, and have a great opportunity to rise to meet this difficult time. Unfortunately, it was very incomplete. Cultural organizations have called it “very weak,” noting that it is not doing an adequate job of protecting the right to Freedom, First and Information Information; the Asian Indigenous Peoples Network on Extractive Industries and Energy (AIPNEE) has “strongly condemned” the statement; other scholars have noted that Indigenous rights are “in direct conflict” with the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP).
Soon, 25 non-governmental organizations wrote a letter to the ICMM and 3 other business organizations to express concerns about a new standard that defines underground mining, noting that “it may be dangerous creating a race to the bottom at a time when the mining sector urgently needs to improve its social and environmental performance.”
Surely this important concept provides an opportunity for reflection, humility and real change. Instead the ICMM leadership in London doubled down on the “preservative” nature of the private sector, using the term for a political crisis- government and said he was the injured party. Writing several LinkedIn posts and a new ICMM article titled “The Power of Tension,” ICMM CEO Rohitesh Dhawan used his soapbox to cry — not the mining industry data, but lost a seat at the Weather Week table. “I was recently disinvited by a global NGO from speaking at a panel they were hosting on human rights at New York Climate Week because the other group disagreed with a part of the ICMM on a particular topic.”
The experience of being politely asked to step back from the light at a panel at New York Climate Week is not life-threatening or dangerous. The effect of living near a mine, unfortunately, is possible. In the rare times that leaders of Nations and representatives of the public have the opportunity to participate in opportunities or panels of the world, it is impossible to eliminate the concerns and risks that they carry from their real experiences, living in in their homes.
Earthworks has been following ICMM since its early days 24 years ago. It is long past time to stop the hand-wringing, the window-panning and rearranging the seats on the Titanic – and instead, for the ICMM to seriously engage with its critics to do the necessary work again improve the environmental degradation and human footprint. ways to protect the rights, land and health of communities on the ground.
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