Government

on Mining Laws, Regulations and Permitting published its “Recommendations to Improve Mining on Public Lands”

It positively calls out the IRMA Standard for special attention among voluntary mining standards, “This report endorses the adoption of a number of components of voluntary standards—particularly ones from the IRMA standard developed by a multi-stakeholder coalition comprised of the mining industry, end-users, environmental and human rights NGOs, labor organizations, and others.”

published a policy paper: “Resilience for the Future: The UK’s Critical Minerals Strategy.”

In the section titled “Resilience Through ESG Performance,” IRMA is listed as a globally recognized framework which could contribute to “role model standards for sustainable development of resources in the UK” and “protect the interests of communities and our natural environment.”

to produce a Jan 2022 report on securing energy transition minerals for French industry, was interviewed by Euractiv.

In stressing that “mines should be responsible by complying with the ‘clearest and most binding standards possible’, he included “the standard proposed by the Initiative for Responsible Mining Assurance, comprising environmental impacts, works’ health, respect for human rights, and financials transparency in the mining sector.”

authored the report: “Sustainability Standard Systems for Mineral Resources: A Comparative Overview.”

When comparing IRMA to other standards the authors noted: “In contrast, IRMA [has] a stronger focus on social aspects which might be also a result of the strong multi-stakeholder approach.”

First Stakeholder Convening on Mining Reform invited IRMA’s Executive Director Aimee Boulanger.

Joining 20 representatives from states, Tribes, the mining industry, environmental groups, labor unions, automakers and legal experts at the White House, they  discussed the need for reforms and improvements to establish strong standards that would allow for the responsible development of hardrock minerals in the United States

passed a resolution on a European strategy for critical raw materials.

In the document, the parliament “welcomes the EU’s commitment to responsible and sustainable sourcing and encourages the Commission to take the Standard for Responsible Mining developed by the Initiative for Responsible Mining Assurance as a starting point, […] stressing the need to mobilise more state and private actors to also subscribe to and implement sustainability standards.”

This standard was developed by a multi-sector coalition consisting of mining companies, purchasing companies (such as jewelers and electronics manufacturers), NGOs, labour unions and mining affected communities. Also, IUCN NL and its partner organizations that are committed to the protection of vulnerable ecosystems have actively provided input during the consultation rounds.”

(Sustainable Management in EXtractive Industries – a three-year project funded by the European Commission) announced the release of a report describing the sustainability aspects that should be considered for the European extractive industry in the fields of carbon neutrality and circular economy.

The organization noted, “the project suggests one common standard to describe what responsible extraction should mean in the EU and suggests to use the IRMA Standard to describe the criteria that a responsible extractive operation should fulfill today.”

published a report “Building Resilient Supply Chains, Revitalizing American Manufacturing, and Fostering Broad-Based Growth.”

In the report, both the U.S. Department of Energy and the U.S. Department of Defense reference the IRMA Standard as a road map for best practices in mining, saying “IRMA may provide a method for U.S. companies and the Federal Government to ensure that minerals are being sourced from mines with robust environmental, social, and financial responsibility policies, and also could provide a model for responsible development of additional mines in the United States.”

Marrakech Partnership published a vision of how the Metals and Mining sector, among others, could achieve net-zero emissions by 2050 while making continuous improvements in their ESG performance.

In laying out the milestones, the authors envision that by 2025, “major mining companies have all of their mines independently verified as reducing GHG emissions/energy use and are measured against leading external ESG standards (e.g. IRMA).”