IHRB has recently joined IRMA, the Initiative for Responsible Mining Assurance, a global, multi-stakeholder, standard-setting organisation whose mission is to protect people and the environment directly affected by mining.
Since 2009, IHRB has worked extensively on human rights issues related to the extractive industries - mining, commodity trading, and more recently ‘transition minerals’ - on land and in our oceans, and has actively contributed to strengthening multi-stakeholder initiatives in a number of related areas.
IRMA’s independent assessment of mines is a valuable contribution at a time of exponential demand for ‘transition minerals’, such as copper and cobalt, which are needed to help the green transition to a low-carbon economy. With this demand comes increased risks to the human rights of workers and vulnerable communities involved in mining.
Governed by stakeholders
IRMA is equally governed by all affected stakeholders – the IRMA Board may be the only place where communities have power equal to mining companies. IRMA sets a global, best-practice mining standard; and it independently and transparently assesses how individual mines measure-up to that standard.
We have joined IRMA as a research and expert partner organisation in order to better understand IRMA’s multi-stakeholder approach to achieving responsible mining.
Human rights must be protected and respected in the full value chains of minerals, from mines to consumers. The success of net-zero depends on it because of the need for minerals to grow renewable energy, sustainable transport, and other green industries.
We look forward to learning from IRMA’s multi-stakeholder coalition and contributing IHRB’s own experiences to the further development of responsible mining around the world. We remain committed to ensuring that the mining industry respects the human rights of affected communities, protects rights in the workplace, and minimises harm to the environment.
- John Morrison, IHRB
