Program Along the Theme of Managing Artisanal and Small-Scale Mining (ASM) and Look Forward to Your Participation
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Secretariat Core Secretariat hosted by funding from a TABLE OF CONTENTS Letter from the IGF Secretariat....................................................................... 2 IGF Members ..................................................................................................................4 ASM Backgrounder .................................................................................................... 5 General Information .................................................................................................9 Agenda – IGF Annual General Meeting .....................................................12 Lunch Sessions ..........................................................................................................20 Speaker Biographies ..............................................................................................22 IGF Guidance for Governments: Countering tax base erosion and profit shifting in the mining sector ................................50 IGF Guidance for Governments: Local content policies ...............54 ASM Report ................................................................................................................. 55 The IGF Secretariat would like to thank UNCTAD for hosting the 2017 IGF Annual General Meeting. 1 Letter from the IGF Secretariat Welcome to the 13th Annual General Meeting (AGM) of the Intergovernmental Forum on Mining, Minerals, Metals, and Sustainable Development (IGF). We have prepared an engaging program along the theme of Managing Artisanal and Small-Scale Mining (ASM) and look forward to your participation. More than 80 organizations and over 60 governments are taking part in the AGM this year, which is a clear indication of the IGF’s significance and relevance for sustainable development. IGF has grown into an institution that plays a key role on the world stage. Our membership has expanded to 61 countries since the IGF was established in 2005 by 25 founding members. In the year since our AGM last convened, the IGF has been honoured to welcome Cambodia, Chad, Ecuador, Liberia, Somalia and South Sudan as our newest members. The IGF provides a number of services to members including: in-country assessments; capacity building and individualized technical assistance; guidance documents and conferences that explore resource governance best practices and provide an opportunity for governments to engage with industry and civil society. We are grateful to the Canadian government for infusing IGF with the funds necessary to expand our impact. These efforts are largely framed by IGF’s flagship policy guidance and assessment tool, the Mining Policy Framework (MPF). The IGF has recently completed MPF assessments for the following countries: Mauritania, Mongolia, Rwanda, Senegal and Suriname. The IGF believes it is important to provide as many opportunities as possible for our members to collaborate, access world-class experts and learn from one another. The IGF delivered 13 capacity- building workshops, which served representatives from 36 countries this fiscal year. Events were held in Africa, Asia and South America on topics such as ASM, environmental management, mining law, mine closure and post-mining transition. The IGF Secretariat recently published a guidance document on managing the ASM sector and is working on guidance documents that will help its members optimize the benefits from mining through local content policies and efforts to tackle tax base erosion and profit shifting (BEPS). For this year’s AGM, the agenda is focused on the ASM sector. ASM is a complex and diversified sector across much of the developing world. It ranges from informal individual miners seeking a subsistence livelihood, to small-scale formal commercial mining entities producing minerals in a responsible way. For many countries, ASM is both an important source of livelihoods and also a cause of environmental damage. There is a pressing need to enhance the quality of life for miners working outside of formal legal and economic systems, and to enhance the contribution of the sector to sustainable development. ASM has experienced explosive growth in recent years due to the rising value of mineral prices and the increasing difficulty of earning a living from alternative activities like agriculture. The exact scale of ASM worldwide is unknown, given that many operating in the sector do so outside of formal economic and legal structures. However, it is estimated that 40.5 million people were directly engaged in ASM in 2017, up from a 30 million people in 2014, 13 million people in 1999 and 6 million in 1993. That compares with just 7 million people working in industrial mining in 2014. 2 IGFMining.org @IGFMining It is with great anticipation that we look forward to the in-depth presentations and dynamic discussions we will share during this year’s AGM. This rich dialogue—the hallmark of the IGF—is invaluable to all participants, and we encourage your active engagement during these sessions. We would like to thank UNCTAD for once again hosting this conference. We hope you will all be able to join us again next year. Secretariat of the Intergovernmental Forum on Mining, Minerals, Metals and Sustainable Development (IGF) www.IGFmining.org [email protected] @IGFMining IGF MEMBERS In the year since our AGM last convened, the IGF has been honored to welcome Cambodia, Chad, Ecuador, Liberia, Somalia and South Sudan as our newest members. Kazakhstan Kyrgyz Canada Republic Mongolia Romania Russia Germany Netherlands United Kingdom France Egypt Morocco Mali Dominican Mauritania Mexico Republic Senegal Myanmar Burkina Faso Iran Jamaica Guatemala Guinea Chad Philippines Honduras India Sierra Leone Somalia Suriname Liberia Ethiopia Papua Ghana Niger New Guinea Ecuador South Sudan Cambodia Nigeria Brazil Kenya Cameroon Peru Uganda Gabon Rwanda Republic of the Congo Bolivia Burundi Botswana Paraguay Tanzania Namibia Malawi Madagascar South Africa Uruguay Mozambique Zambia Swaziland Argentina Secretariat hosted by Secretariat funded by 3 For more information contact [email protected] ARTISANAL AND SMALL-SCALE MINING: GLOBAL TRENDS Artisanal and small-scale mining (ASM) has experienced explosive growth in recent years due to the rising value of mineral prices and the increasing difficulty of earning a living from agriculture and other rural activities. An estimated 40.5 million people were directly engaged in ASM in 2017, up from 30 million in 2014, 13 million in 1999 and 6 million in 1993. That compares with only 7 million people working in industrial mining in 2014. ASM is generally pursued as a route out of poverty or as an activity to complement insufficient income, especially in communities where alternative employment is hard to come by. ASM is also a very diverse sector. Its main challenges vary from region to region—and often from site to site. There is a perception that ASM is a “get-rich-quick” activity. This has misinformed legislation and extension programs and led to the application of one-size-fits-all policies. However, people working in ASM are far from the same. They range from those whose livelihoods rely on subsistence farming to skilled workers who migrated from urban areas in search of work. Despite its low productivity, ASM is an important source of minerals and metals. It accounts for about 20 per cent of the global gold supply, 80 per cent of the global sapphire supply and 20 per cent of the global diamond supply. ASM is also a major producer of minerals indispensable for manufacturing popular electronic products, such as laptops and phones. For example, 26 per cent of global tantalum production and 25 per cent of tin comes from ASM. ENVIRONMENT AND HEALTH AND SAFETY ASM relies on a mostly unskilled workforce using rudimentary tools and techniques. Unsurprisingly, its environmental and health and safety practices tend to be very poor. For example, dust and fine particles resulting from blasting and drilling cause respiratory illnesses. It also degrades crops and farmlands, resulting in lost food production. Streams and rivers often become polluted near ASM sites, which makes water unsafe for drinking and can also affect fish stocks previously relied upon for food. Artisanal and small-scale mining is also the source of the largest releases of mercury, estimated at 1,400 tonnes per year in 2011 according to the Minamata Convention. Exposure to mercury can have serious health impacts, including irreversible brain damage. Mercury is also difficult to contain and can be toxic at even very small doses. It can be transported long distances by air or water, poisoning the soil and waterways, and eventually making its way into the food chain. In sub-Saharan Africa, most of these risks are borne by women. Many attempts have been made to encourage artisanal and small-scale miners to adopt cleaner technologies and safer practices. Many operators are reluctant to change their practices due to higher costs and concerns about the impact on production. 4 ASM AND LARGE-SCALE MINING (LSM) IN NUMBERS In many parts of the world, ASM and LSM operate in neighbouring—and sometimes on the same— concessions. As mineral governance frameworks 40.5 MILLION tend to favour foreign direct investment by people working in ASM in 2017 multinational companies over ASM, there are significant power imbalances and clashes over claims. However, their coexistence opens the 150 MILLION potential for cooperation. Current practices and debates about ASM–LSM depend on ASM across