A Guide for Governments and Partners to Integrate Environment and Human Rights into the Governance of the Mining Sector

Mining provides vital commodities for a wide range of products and services and has done so through the centuries. The sector occupies the position at the start of the resource supply chain for many other industries. Managed well, mining creates jobs for lower and higher skilled workers and can spur innovation and bring investment and infrastructure at a game-changing scale over long time horizons.? Mining has historically often been viewed solely through the lens of the sec- tor?s contribution to economic growth, without considering the broader environmental and social impacts and their associated costs, but that is changing. Large-scale mining has a large footprint that significantly changes the immediate and sur- rounding environment and community dynamics, with the potential for environmental degradation, exacerbating inequality, increased tensions and even conflict. Some types of mining are significant contributors to climate change, compromising the global community?s commitment to reducing carbon dioxide emissions and other greenhouse gases. As a result, governments and the industry have been under increasing scrutiny, driven by concerns around the environmental, social and human rights impacts of the sector as well as concerns about the impacts of the sector on broader governance and rule of law issues, including its contribution to conflict and Corruption.