NGOs

shared a public letter with South Africa’s new administration, calling for bold and concrete steps to protect human rights.

In the letter, IRMA was called out as an “unprecedented international collaboration” and recommended as a way to drive improved performance at mines.

published “A Plan of Action for Change,” to provide recommendations for reform of British Columbia’s mining laws.

Of the 69 recommendations, four reference IRMA directly:

• Require that all mines in BC comply with the IRMA standards, or better, for Waste and Materials Management.
• Enact measurable and enforceable reclamation criteria that meet or exceed the international standards set in IRMA’s Standard for Responsible Mining.
• Adopt the IRMA Standard for Responsible Mining water management standards as minimum requirements in BC’s mining laws, including full consultation with communities and stakeholders on critical water-related issues, with third party independent reviews.
• Prohibit mines that are likely to require perpetual water treatment unless the mine meets the exceptional circumstances set out in the IRMA Standard for Responsible Mining.

sent a joint letter to the World Bank in support of a just and rapid transition towards a renewable energy economy, while also expressing concerns about impacts from an expected increase in mining to enable the transition.

The group noted that “where sourcing from mining operations is absolutely necessary, purchasers must insist that those operations adhere to stringent international environmental and human rights best-practices standards (such as those developed by the multi-stakeholder Initiative for Responsible Mining Assurance) with independent, third-party assurance of compliance.”

released “Boom in Raw Materials: Between profits and losses,” a report recommending specific steps to manage the impacts of steel and aluminum production.

Throughout the report, IRMA is singled out as a credible certification scheme for advancing best practices at the mine.