La debilidad de las salvaguardas de reasentamiento en la minería

Dados los niveles de incertidumbre en torno a las actividades mineras, es más que cuestionable si las actuales prácticas de planificación pueden salvaguardar a las personas de los riesgos asociados al desplazamiento y al reasentamiento, y si las prácticas de la industria son coherentes con la responsabilidad de respetar los derechos humanos

Mining and community development: problems and possibilities of local-level practice

Abstract This article examines local-level community development (CD) facilitated by the mining industry. It moves beyond polarized debates that pit CD in mining as either a front for public relations or a genuine attempt to facilitate development in order to build understanding and critical awareness of problems and possibilities of local-level CD practice. Publicly available information and prior work and research with community practitioners in mining provide a basis for the analysis. The article makes a contribution to literature about the role of business in development and the mining industry's capacity to contribute to poverty reduction and human development

Establishing the foundations for effective social performance in the global mining industry

In a context where mining companies may be looking to build, or rebuild, their communities and social performance capability after a period of cutbacks in this area, it is important to ensure that the resources devoted to the task are well spent. This paper sets out the factors that companies need to consider if they are to establish, and maintain, the foundations for effective social performance. This paper can be read in conjunction with: Social performance gaps in the global mining industry: A position paper for executives. Centre for Social Responsibility in Mining, Sustainable Minerals Institute, The University of Queensland: Brisbane. Available at: https://www.csrm.uq.edu.au/publications/social-performance-gaps-in-the-global-mining-industry-a-position-paper-for-executive

The weakness of resettlement safeguards in mining

Given the levels of uncertainty that surround mining activities, it is questionable whether current planning practices can safeguard against the risks associated with displacement and resettlement, and whether industry practice is consistent with the responsibility to respect human rights.

Can planning safeguard against mining and resettlement risks?

This article explores whether a more responsible form of planning can be applied to resettlement in mining. The authors focus initially on existing international safeguard policies and performance standards. Embedded in these institutional mechanisms is an assumption that when key elements of a displacement are known, the timing, nature and intensity of the resettlement event can be forecast and planned for. The assumption that mining companies can and will effect a planned resettlement has carried over into the corporate policy statements of many mining companies and peak industry bodies. A key issue that is often overlooked is the difficulty that mining companies face in determining their land requirements for life-of-mine. The authors conclude that planning mechanisms for mining resettlements hold potential for safeguarding against major displacement risks. They also argue that this potential is challenged by an industrial context that is inherently volatile, where future land acquisition is difficult to predict, and where the degree to which planning is able to serve as a protective mechanism for project-affected people is a critical outstanding question

Company-commissioned independent inquiries: A case for applied research

This paper calls for deeper research on company-commissioned independent inquiries (CCIIs). Over the past 10 years, CCIIs have been occasionally used to respond to complex stakeholder issues in the context of resource extraction. These are typically high-stakes environments: there is a need to make good decisions in a complex situation, where the available facts are contested, and where human rights risks are present. Our preliminary review suggests that there is much to understand about these innovative processes from the perspective of conflict management, community relations and organisational learning. This paper considers seven international CCIIs commissioned by global mining companies and describes them - both in terms of the methodologies used and the resulting outcomes. Perspectives from across the stakeholder spectrum are required to understand what principles, methodologies or conditions could have contributed to better outcomes for the parties involved. Ensuring that principles can be applied in different contexts, across a range of issues, is pivotal to these inquiry processes being activated with integrity