Phase One Final Report

Swedish EPA-UNDP Global Environmental Governance Programme on Mining 2014-2019

By Environmental Governance Programme (EGP)

Summary

This report provides an overview of key results from Phase One (2014-2019) of the joint Swedish Environmental Protection Agency (Swedish EPA) - United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) global Environmental Governance Programme (EGP) on mining.

The EGP was designed to develop capacities for mitigating interlinked social and environmental risks that negatively affect a range of SDGs and human rights. The programme approaches these issues by promoting cross-sector collaboration and coordination, and integrated thinking, within and across institutions, as well as inclusive and democratic mechanisms and effective citizen participation.

In Phase One, EGP worked with ministries of mining and environment, Environmental Protection Agencies, National Human Rights Commissions, civil society partners, local communities, and the private sector to integrate environmental and social concerns and human rights-based approaches into the governance of the mining sector. This included support for large, medium and small-scale mining across all stages of the mining cycle from initial environmental and social impact assessments through licensing and operations to closure.

Phase One of EGP provided such targeted support to four countries: Kenya, Mozambique, Mongolia, and Colombia, as well as lighter support to many others through EGP’s global work. At the global and regional level, the EGP has supported a global community of practice; influenced and informed major fora and policy debates; provided training; and facilitated platforms for advocacy and raising awareness. The programme has promoted South-South learning and peer-to-peer exchanges; and curated a range of knowledge management resources around the nexus of human rights, environment, and mining.

"The mining industry can have substantial impacts on both the environment and human rights. The environmental impacts on water, air, and ecosystems can have direct and indirect impacts on human rights. One of the most important areas of work of the Environmental Governance Programme is to identify, highlight, and disseminate good practices in the mining sector, such as case studies about participatory environmental monitoring at the community level, a potentially powerful way to address both the environment and human rights concerns."

David R. Boyd, UN Special Rapporteur on human rights and the environment; video presentation to the participants of the EGP Annual Global Workshop, October 10, 2019.

Illustration by Caroline Sellstone/sellstonecreative.se

Context and summary

By 2060, global demand for metals and minerals is expected to triple compared with 2011, to meet the growing demands of a more affluent and increasingly urban population. The World Bank projects production of rare earth metals to rise even more steeply: a fivefold increase by 2050. Rare earth metals are particularly critical to developing the green technologies needed to achieve Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Historically, the mining industry is known for delivering harm along with its opportunities. The sector has become emblematic of poor natural resource governance, corruption, human rights violations, and issues of accountability and transparency. At the same time, the industry is central to the global transition to a low-carbon future.

In the context of weak governance, mining can dramatically change the environment, community dynamics, and local economies. Environmental degradation can follow in its footsteps: mining is a major contributor to greenhouse gas emissions; it can cause water scarcity, pollution, and loss of biodiversity and ecosystem services. Socially, mining can disrupt local economies, exacerbate inequalities and increase social tensions and conflicts, and foster corruption, gender inequality and gender-based violence, attacks on environmental defenders, and serious impacts on the rights to health and livelihood, among other basic human rights. These impacts often negatively affect communities living in poverty and vulnerability, including indigenous peoples, with women and children more adversely, or differently, impacted by these risks than men.

The management of the environmental and social impact of mining is one of the most critical challenges facing resource-dependent countries in their efforts to develop sustainably. The EGP was established to address and mitigate interlinked social and environmental risks that undermine the SDGs and the human rights of current and future generations. This mandate requires integrating environmental and human rights concerns into the governance of mining. The EGP approaches such questions by promoting cross-sector collaboration and coordination, and integrated thinking, both within and across institutions, as well as more inclusive and democratic mechanisms and effective citizen participation. Our experience suggests these elements are preconditions for positive change.

Results summary

In Colombia, the EGP has implemented an adaptable work plan that responds to the main objectives of the programme and the priorities of the national government and local communities. The EGP has successfully responded to the needs of the Ministry of Mines and Energy, which governs the sector, to strengthen the gender dimension in mining governance, through the design of the Gender Equity Policy in the Mines and Energy sector. The Gender Equity Policy is expected to impact practices and behaviors of government entities and private companies large and small, as well as mining communities. The new policy tackles the unequal treatment and gendered impacts of mining activities and the unequal female labor participation while creating incentives for the recruitment of women in leadership positions in the sector.

In Kenya, the adoption of the EGP-supported Strategic Environmental and Social Assessment (SESA) of the mining sector has greatly enhanced understanding of how environmental protection can be managed in the mining sector. As the country continues to exploit its mineral resources for socioeconomic development, the SESA provides a methodology for assessing the impacts of strategies and implementation mechanisms, ensuring that potential negative environmental impacts are mitigated and positive aspects are strengthened. With the EGP’s support, government staff at national and county levels have been trained on the management of environmental issues, including the use of Environmental Impact Assessments (EIA), Environmental and Social Impact Assessments (ESIA), environmental audits, and inspections to monitor and enforce improvement of environmental and human rights practices.

In Mongolia, environmental regulatory frameworks and law enforcement capacities in the mining sector have been improved through legal assessments, including the EGP-supported Rule of Law in Public Administration (RoLPA) tool, and law reform activities. Two important regulations on environmental management and mine closure, based on the recommendations developed under the programme, have been enacted, delivering a significant impetus toward improving environmental legislation enforcement mechanisms in the mining sector. The EGP has also provided training to law enforcement officers, focused on managing environmental issues. The number of cases resolved by mining and environmental inspectors significantly increased after the 2017 EGP trainings for inspectors on application of the Law on Offences. For example, in the province of Bayankhongor Aimag, out of the total 69 cases registered in the second half of 2017, 58 cases (84 percent) were related to the environment, and 44 of these cases were resolved by inspectors who attended EGP trainings. In the province of Selenge Aimag, the number of cases resolved by inspectors who attended the trainings increased from 2 to 18.

In Mozambique, the EGP’s work with authorities in charge of environmental and human rights protection in mining aimed to strengthen Rule of Law in Public Administration, and hence the government’s ability to perform its role in environmental policy. The EGP has also provided an entry point for addressing major environmental governance concerns, including individual and institutional capacity deficiencies; realizing the rights of citizens and communities affected by mining operations to access information; and conferring greater voice to citizens and communities in decision-making and in monitoring of environmental degradation and human rights violations. For instance, an EGP-supported pilot project in the coal-rich province of Tete has trained community members to monitor air and water pollution from coal mining and to assess and communicate linked human rights impacts—an innovative mining operations governance approach for government officials and communities in Mozambique. Local monitoring and assessment, and the ability to communicate with advocates and authorities, empowered communities to participate in decision-making and seek redress for injustice, improving both environmental and human rights protection.

At the global and regional level, the EGP has supported a global community of practice; influenced and informed major fora and policy debates; facilitated platforms for advocacy and raising awareness, such as training, South-South learning, and peer-to-peer exchanges; and curated a range of knowledge management resources around the nexus of human rights, environment, and mining. The EGP has also worked with other UN agencies and entities, including the UN Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR), UN Volunteers (UNV), UN Environment Programme (UNEP), UN Women, the UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights and Environment, the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) and the World Bank (WBG).

Other organizations with which the EGP has collaborated are the Intergovernmental Forum on Mining, Minerals, Metals and Sustainable Development (IGF); the Canadian International Resources and Development Institute (CIRDI); the Environmental Law Institute (ELI); Source International; the Environmental Peacebuilding Association; and the Global Alliance for National Human Rights Institutions (GANHRI). The EGP has also developed strong collaborations and partnerships with various Swedish organizations and government entities, including the Folke Bernadotte Academy (FBA); the Swedish Geological Survey (SGU); SwedBio as well as the Stockholm Resilience Centre (SRC), Stockholm University (SU); and Lund University (LU).