Why was it important for the mining and metals industry to be at COP-8? Mining has the potential to affect biodiversity throughout the life cycle of a project. The potential for significant impacts is greater when mining occurs in remote, environmentally or socially sensitive areas. There is a great deal that companies can do to minimize or prevent such impacts. There are also many opportunities for companies to enhance biodiversity conservation within their areas of operations. Biodiversity management is thus a critical issue for our industry and ICMM has done much to assist our members to improve their performance, notably through our dialogue with IUCN. Foremost among these is the recent release of our Good Practice Guidance. It is important that we attend CBD meetings to seek opportunities to describe what ICMM members are doing and monitor and influence decisions that might affect us. Was the ICMM delegation present during the entire meeting? The ICMM delegation was me! I was present until the conclusion of the High-Level Segment as two weeks was more than I could afford to spend out of the office.
Were you involved in any side events? I helped to organize a side event and a pre-COP meeting, both on biodiversity offsets. They were very useful opportunities to debate some of the complex issues surrounding offsets with a multi-stakeholder audience. The COP was obviously a particularly good forum for engaging a diverse array of government representatives. I also participated in other side events and these were excellent for debating leading topics, telling others about what we’re doing and learning about initiatives in other sectors. The side events were the most useful aspect of the COP for me.
What about the High-Level Segment? These discussions, especially the breakfast, were excellent opportunities for business to interact with ministers and senior government representatives on issues of interest to us. They weren’t nearly as formal as the negotiations, and this was a strength. I’d recommend that, in future, there is a more diverse array of business leaders present.
Were you able to interact with other industry associations? We have much in common with the oil and gas sector, so I found myself on the same podium as IPIECA International Petroleum Industry Environmental Conservation Association on several occasions. The International Chamber of Commerce co-ordinated business meetings and common messages. But my primary reason for being at the COP was to interact with governments and NGOs and that’s where I focused my energies. What take-home messages did you report back to your members? There’s a lot of scepticism about multinational companies on the part of governments and NGOs. ICMM’s proactive stance has been well received, but we need to keep delivering. The business decision has opened a window of opportunity which we must make the most of. The formal negotiations can appear very slow!
What do you see as key priorities for ICMM leading up to COP-9? We need to ensure that our good practice guidance is implemented across the membership and encourage uptake by other companies too. Implementation of the guidance will contribute to achieving the 2010 target. I expect that we’ll be seeking input from governments at COP-9 on how to improve it and asking them how they can use it in their countries. We’ll continue to work with UNESCO and others on landscape level planning as an approach to reconciling conservation priorities with developmental needs. We’ll be talking to the Conservation Commons participants about sharing biodiversity information to improve decision-making. Companies need good information and also hold large amounts of biodiversity information themselves. We hope that the offsets debate will make good progress and we will continue to contribute to that debate. In preparation for COP-9 itself, ICMM will encourage its members to work actively with governments in the revision of NBSAPs and attending the CBD’s technical meetings.
Andrew Parsons
ICMM was formed to take forward the agenda identified in the Mining, Minerals and Sustainable Development project’s 2002 ‘Breaking New Ground’ report. It brings together large companies and commodity associations.
