Finance

at the London School of Economics submitted comments to the UN Secretary-General’s Panel on Critical Energy Transition Minerals in response to the Panel’s call for input to inform its development of principles and actionable recommendations.

The comments uniquely highlight IRMA “for its assurance system that includes public notice of audits in a sustained effort to hear all voices, and makes use of offsite audit interviews to acquire a holistic view of mine performance.” It also mentions that “IRMA’s governance is uniquely aligned with the just transition principle of centering the voices of affected workers and communities …. Most other standards only involve stakeholders outside of the mining sector through more detached consultation processes. A systematic and comprehensive overview of global mining standards found IRMA to have among the highest quality of governance structure, auditing and transparency.”

issued a “Statement on Anglo American and Proposed Take-Over Bids.”

The statement explained “Anglo has played a distinct role in driving best practice and was one of the first to support institutional investor calls for a different approach following the Brumadinho tailings disaster. It recognised that the social license of the sector was under threat and that the key to addressing challenging issues and building trust required multi-stakeholder approaches. It is also Anglo that has championed the development of a multi-stakeholder approach to standards through initiatives such as IRMA.”

signed a statement demanding companies enhance their environmental and social due diligence in nickel supply chains of the electric vehicle industry.

The 29 signatories endorsed VBDO and Rainforest Foundation Norway’s  investor statement which uniquely mentions IRMA as “one key initiative in this area which downstream companies can support by joining directly but also by prioritising sourcing from mines audited by IRMA and requiring their own suppliers to be audited by IRMA.”

, an investor-led initiative to ensure the world’s largest corporate greenhouse gas emitters take necessary action on climate change, published “Investor Expectations for Diversified Mining.”

In section 9.iii “Aligning with core best practices for the acceleration for of [transition mineral] mining” they suggest “that IRMA be considered the primary independent responsible mining [verification] when assessing indicator 9.iii because of its multistakeholder governance system that specifically allocates equal governing power to each of the represented stakeholders: communities, workers, NGOs, mining companies, companies that purchase mined materials, and investors.”

Associate Director for Stewardship, Joris Laseur published a blog: “Raising the Bar in Mining and Minerals for the Cleantech Supply Chain: The Role of Multi-Stakeholder Initiatives.”

In discussing the shift towards renewables, Mr Laseur notes that “metals need to be mined responsibly and then become part of the circular economy,” and that “two initiatives have emerged as leaders in the supply chains of cleantech equipment: Aluminium Stewardship Initiative (ASI) and the Initiative for Responsible Mining Assurance (IRMA).”