To demonstrate for automakers what better practices can look like in the real world, Lead the Charge members have published a series of case studies, including one from Inclusive Development International focused on how car companies that source from Guinea’s largest bauxite mine, Compagnie des Bauxites de Guinée (CBG), should be engaging with and supporting communities who are at risk from the planned expansion of CBG’s mining operations—an expansion that is being driven in part by demand for aluminum for use in electric vehicles and batteries.  

The study pulls from our recent report, “I Will Do Anything to Stay Here”: What a Just Energy Transition Means to Communities at Risk from Bauxite Mining in Guinea, presenting perspectives from these communities and a list of their specific requests for CBG and its buyers, including that mining should proceed only once there has been a true dialogue and affected communities have agreed to the terms on which the project can proceed. As our case study explains, companies that use CBG bauxite in their products—including the car companies Audi, BMW, Ford, GM, Mercedes-Benz, Porsche and Toyota—have a role to play supporting communities in the proposed agreement-making process. They can do this by, among other things: 

• Engaging directly with CBG to express their expectation that CBG earn broad community support through agreement making for the expansion of the mine  

• Providing pooled resources to enable communities to access technical and legal advisers who can support them in the agreement-making process, including through generating options for avoiding harm and designing development benefits 

• Instituting material consequences if the company fails to respect its responsibilities or agreements with local communities 

• Enabling or contributing to remedy if harms occur   

The Lead the Charge Leaderboard report serves both as an incentive for automakers to do better, and a tool to help them assess and improve their supply chain due diligence practices. This case study, along with our Policy Proposal to Advance a Just Energy Transition for Project-Affected Communities set out what it takes in practice to ensure that at-risk communities have agency in decision making about how mining projects proceed. The six-measures in our policy proposal lay out a road map for automakers and their suppliers to fulfill their human rights due diligence responsibilities and promote a just energy transition for project-affected people, as they seek to bring renewable energy technologies to scale.  

Read the case study here.

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The fourth edition of the Lead the Charge Auto Supply Chain Leaderboard finds that automaker commitments and supplier requirements for responsibly sourced minerals have grown substantially since 2023. Companies such as BYD, Geely, Hyundai and Kia have established new commitments and requirements, while others such as Renault, Volvo and BMW have expanded existing ones. Additionally, over 80% of the indicators on responsible mineral sourcing have now been met by at least one company.

Notably, the number of automakers with explicit commitments and supplier requirements to respect Indigenous Peoples’ rights—whose traditional lands encompass approximately 50% of the world’s energy transition mineral resources—has also grown from just six out of 18 companies in 2023 to 12 in 2026.“By pushing for improvements across a variety of issues, electric vehicle makers are demonstrating that they have the ability to help transform mineral supply chains,” said Ellen Moore, the Mining Program Director at Earthworks. “As influential buyers, they can steer the mining industry towards practices that respect Indigenous Peoples’ rights, workers, human rights, and the environment.”

“By pushing for improvements across a variety of issues, electric vehicle makers are demonstrating that they have the ability to help transform mineral supply chains,” said Ellen Moore, the Mining Program Director at Earthworks. “As influential buyers, they can steer the mining industry towards practices that respect Indigenous Peoples’ rights, workers, human rights, and the environment.” 

The report also finds that some of the top performing companies are starting to go further to ensure the minerals in their EVs are mined responsibly, imposing more stringent requirements for specific minerals and undertaking on-the-ground due diligence to verify supplier compliance. For example: 

• Ford, Tesla and Renault have disclosed direct mineral sourcing agreements that include specific human rights and environmental requirements in contractual terms.
• Mercedes, Volkswagen and Tesla publish detailed raw material reports on their progress to prevent, mitigate and remedy human rights and environmental harms across a range of supply chains such as lithium, cobalt and nickel. In these reports, the companies disclose multiple examples of direct engagement with extractive companies and impacted rights holders to address specific harms — including with copper and cobalt suppliers in the DRC, lithium suppliers in Chile and Australia, and nickel suppliers in Indonesia.
• Mercedes, Ford and Volkswagen require suppliers of battery minerals to undergo audits by the Initiative for Responsible Mining Assurance (IRMA), the most robust and comprehensive third party standard on responsible mining according to analysis from Lead the Charge and others. Ford has made IRMA verification a condition of its direct sourcing agreement for lithium from Australia.

“By rejecting weak systems that drive a race to the bottom like the Consolidated Mining Standard, automakers can demonstrate their commitment to human rights and the environment,” said Chelsea Hodgkins, senior ZEV policy advocate with Public Citizen’s Climate Program. “Automakers must join civil society and demand high road mining practices.”  

Taken together, this progress shows a clear trajectory of growing automaker demand for responsibly produced minerals, laying down a challenge for mining companies—which have long been associated with human rights and environmental abuses—to deliver or risk losing business.

Foundations mostly in place, but implementation gaps remain

The analysis shows automakers have made strong progress on due diligence fundamentals, with the average score across all automakers on overall human rights due diligence now up to 47%—up 16 percentage points since 2023. 

Ford and BMW lead in this area, both achieving 73%. However, Chinese companies BYD and Geely were among the biggest improvers in this area in 2026. BYD achieved a 20 percentage point increase in its overall due diligence score after establishing a new supplier code of conduct and supply chain grievance mechanism. Geely published standalone Human Rights and Sustainable Raw Material policies. 

Whilst the industry is moving in the right direction, these foundational practices are not yet translating into consistent, targeted action to address major sources of human rights risks and impacts in EV supply chains. Average scores drop sharply—to just 20%—across the three issue-specific human rights subsections evaluated by the Leaderboard, covering transition mineral sourcing, Indigenous Peoples’ rights, and workers’ rights in the supply chain. 

“As Climate Rights International has documented in Indonesia, the world’s largest producer of nickel, the consequences of the rush for battery minerals can be disastrous for local communities and the climate, including land grabbing, severe air and water quality pollution, attacks on environmental human rights defenders, and the buildout of new captive coal plants to power the nickel industry,” said Krista Shennum, Senior Researcher with Climate Rights International. “But it doesn’t have to be this way. Electric vehicle companies have unique leverage to demand that the minerals used in their supply chains are mined and processed in an environmentally sustainable and rights-respecting way and could position themselves as global leaders in the fight against climate change if they step their due diligence.” 

Leaders are pulling ahead with more meaningful due diligence

The analysis shows a core group of industry leaders – Ford, Mercedes, Tesla, Volvo and Volkswagen – are pushing further ahead. While these companies have significant room for improvement, they have achieved a rate of progress that is double that of the remaining 13 companies since the first edition of the Leaderboard.

When it comes to human rights due diligence and responsible sourcing, what separates these better performers from the rest of the industry isn’t just having many of the right commitments and policies in place — it’s implementing more targeted due diligence processes at the mineral and issue-specific level, along with disclosing more granular and disaggregated reporting of progress and policy enforcement in specific contexts. 

These leaders are starting to conduct more sophisticated risk assessments, developing tailored strategies for different supply chains, and engaging directly with suppliers and rights holders to address specific harms.

“EV makers are in a position to raise the bar for the mining industry at a critical time, as demand for ‘transition’ minerals surges. We have been pleased to see  some companies beginning to engage more meaningfully and directly with upstream suppliers and with affected communities, but there is so much more they could be doing,” said David Pred, Executive Director of Inclusive Development International. “For example, automakers should routinely use site visits to engage with affected communities to understand their concerns, and they should be using their leverage to address harms and enable remedial actions where needed. EV makers also have an opportunity to prevent harm and secure genuinely responsible supply chains by supporting upstream mineral suppliers to negotiate and enter into fair and equitable land access agreements with communities before new projects start.”  

Companies acting now are building regulatory resilience

The emerging best practices in this year’s Leaderboard represent what more meaningful implementation of international human rights due diligence frameworks – such as the UN Guiding Principles and OECD Guidelines – looks like in practice. Because incoming regulations, from the EU Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive to the EU Battery Regulation, are grounded in these same frameworks, automakers making genuine progress now will face lower compliance costs tomorrow.

“The EU’s green rules have turned sustainability from a nice-to-have to the price of entry,” said Franziska Gruning, Raw Materials Officer with T&E. “The Batteries Regulation requires carmakers to trace key battery materials and take action on related risks if they want to sell cars in Europe.”  

However, despite the progress being made, the Leaderboard shows there is still a long way to go. Some companies, such as Toyota, GAC and SAIC, are still failing on the basics, whilst even industry leaders are still showing patchy performances, with no company reaching 50% of the total scores obtainable in the analysis. 

“At a time when critical mineral extraction continues to drive environmental damage and human rights abuses, the poor performance of some automakers is unacceptable. With an industry average score of just 25%, and some companies failing basic due diligence, the human and environmental costs remain severe,” said Eric Ngang, Program Director with Afrewatch International. “Box-ticking audits are not enough. Automakers must go beyond formulaic compliance and scale up targeted, supply chain-specific actions that create real impact. Policymakers, especially in major consumer markets, must enforce strong, mandatory regulations to ensure minimum standards across the industry. This year’s Leaderboard shows that meaningful progress is achievable and already demonstrated by leading companies. There is no justification for leaving producing countries and affected communities to shoulder the burden of the transition alone.”

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A new report released today by the international human rights organization Inclusive Development International and the Guinean NGOs Action Mines-Guinea, CECIDE and ADREMGUI, “I Will Do Anything to Stay Here”: What a Just Energy Transition Means to Communities at Risk from Bauxite Mining in Guinea, presents perspectives from people at risk from the anticipated expansion of one of the world’s largest bauxite mines—a joint venture of Rio Tinto, Alcoa, Dadco and the Guinean government, which supplies raw materials for use in electric cars, solar panels and batteries.

“Guinea’s bauxite industry is on the cusp of what could be its most significant expansion since large-scale mining began in the 1960s,” said Dustin Roasa, research director at Inclusive Development International and the author of the report. “People living in the path of planned new mines desperately want to avoid the land grabs and environmental damage that have sadly been routine in the past. They have a lot to say, and it will benefit everyone if the mining companies and the Government of Guinea listens.”

“This land is ours. We inherited it from our fathers. We want to pass it on to our sons. We should decide what happens to this land,” said Kadiatou Bah, a grandmother of 15 featured in the report, who has lived in Horé Lari village in northwestern Guinea since the 1960s.

The new report outlines the concerns and expectations of the rural communities north of the Cogon River where Compagnie des Bauxites de Guinée (CBG) is currently exploring to expand its mining operation.  In the report, these community members explain how they want the mining company and its shareholders, lenders and buyers to engage with them before any mining proceeds on their land and what they expect in return. The publishers of the report believe if the company meets these expectations, it will help them avoid harm, conflict and costs in the future and result in better outcomes for all parties.

“CBG’s past mining operations have caused unnecessary harm to local communities and the environment, and while some progress has been made in recent years, expansion of the mine into the rich agricultural areas north of Cogon could be devastating to the land-connected communities who live and farm there,” said Amadou Bah, executive director of Action Mines-Guinea. “But avoiding these harms is possible if these communities are meaningfully engaged as partners throughout all stages of project development. Mining companies operating in Guinea, including CBG and its shareholders, should not repeat the mistakes of the past and should use this as an opportunity to uphold the highest standards from the beginning.”

Community expectations

Key community requests include:

• Mining should proceed only once there has been a true dialogue and affected communities have provided consent to the terms on which the project can proceed.
• There should be a fully transparent census process and participatory impact assessment and CBG and the communities should reach agreement on plans to avoid or mitigate negative impacts and the benefits that communities will receive.
• Fair compensation should be provided, including for losses due to the exploration activities currently underway, before any land-taking occurs.
• Communities should have access to technical and legal advisers to support them in these processes.

The communities’ expectations outlined in the report were informed by the experiences of their neighbors to the south who have already been affected—in some cases, displaced entirely—by mining, and who have for many years been advocating for remedy and compensation for harms that have already taken place.  

“If this happens to us—if CBG destroys our land, streams and rivers like they have done on the other side of the river—we are as good as dead,” said Boubacar Bah, whose village Teliwora lies in the path of new mining. “We know that CBG is more powerful than us, but the people of Teliwora are strong and united. We are not afraid to stand up for our rights.”

Responsibilities of CBG’s business partners

The report was launched at an event held on the sidelines of the UN Forum on Business and Human Rights being held in Geneva this week, where panelists also pointed to the responsibilities of CBG’s lenders, including the International Finance Corporation, who they called on to tie any future financing to the condition that CBG secures a fair agreement with  affected communities and fulfills the expectations for a rights-respecting, deliberative negotiation process. They also called on multinational companies that use CBG bauxite in their products—including the car companies Mercedes-Benz, BMW, Audi, GM, Ford, Toyota and Porsche—to support the agreement making process, including through the provision of pooled resources and use of leverage in their supply chains.

CBG’s opportunity to pilot a groundbreaking, rights-based approach to mining in Guinea

At the event, Inclusive Development International’s senior legal and policy director Natalie Bugalski also presented a recently released policy proposal, endorsed by more than 60 human rights, environmental justice and Indigenous Peoples’ organizations, that puts forward a framework for a rights-based approach to community participation in decision-making about investment projects that impact their land and lives—an approach they are calling on CBG to apply as they begin engaging with communities who could be affected by their mine expansion. 

“A truly just energy transition is not possible unless the people whose land and resources are affected by transition mineral mining have agency in decision making about whether and how that mining happens,” said Bugalski. “Even when the highest industry standards are upheld, that isn’t happening, which is why we are calling for a wholly new approach to engaging land-connected communities—one that is rooted in respect for their rights and their ability to weigh the risks, trade-offs and opportunities presented by mining and make their own development decisions.”

The post Guinean communities at risk from transition mineral mining speak out appeared first on Inclusive Development International.

Un nouveau rapport publié aujourd’hui par Inclusive Development International, l’organisation internationale de défense des droits humains, et les ONG guinéennes Action Mines-Guinée, CECIDE et ADREMGUI, « Je ferai tout pour rester ici » : ce que signifie une transition écologique juste pour les communautés menacées par l’exploitation minière de la bauxite en Guinée, présente les points de vue des populations menacées par l’extension envisagée de l’une des plus grandes mines de bauxite au monde, une coentreprise entre Rio Tinto, Alcoa, Dadco et le gouvernement guinéen, qui fournit des matières premières utilisées dans les véhicules électriques, les panneaux solaires et les batteries.

« L’industrie de la bauxite en Guinée est sur le point de connaître son expansion la plus importante depuis le début de l’exploitation minière à grande échelle dans les années 1960 », a déclaré Dustin Roasa, directeur de recherche chez Inclusive Development International et auteur du rapport.  « Les populations qui vivent à proximité des nouveaux sites miniers envisagés souhaitent absolument éviter que leur exploitation ne se traduise par la confiscation des terres et n’entraîne des dommages environnementaux, qui ont malheureusement accompagné l’exploitation minière dans le passé. Elles ont beaucoup à dire, et il serait dans l’intérêt de tous que les sociétés minières et le gouvernement guinéen les écoutent. »  

« Cette terre est la nôtre. Nous l’avons héritée de nos pères. Nous voulons la transmettre à nos fils. C’est à nous de décider ce qu’il adviendra de cette terre », a déclaré Kadiatou Bah, une grand-mère de 15 petits-enfants citée dans le rapport, qui vit dans le village de Horé Lari, au nord-ouest de la Guinée, depuis les années 1960.

Le nouveau rapport présente les préoccupations et les attentes des communautés rurales situées au nord du fleuve Cogon, où la Compagnie des Bauxites de Guinée (CBG) prospecte actuellement en vue d’étendre ses activités minières. Dans ce rapport, les membres de ces communautés expliquent les relations qu’ils souhaitent avoir avec la société minière et ses actionnaires, bailleurs de fonds et acheteurs avant toute exploitation minière sur leurs terres et ce qu’ils attendent en retour. Les auteurs du rapport estiment que la réponse de l’entreprise à ces attentes les aidera à éviter les préjudices, les conflits et les coûts à l’avenir, et se traduira par de meilleurs résultats pour l’ensemble des parties.

« Dans le passé, les activités minières de la CBG ont causé des dommages inutiles aux communautés locales et à l’environnement, et bien que des progrès aient été réalisés ces dernières années, l’expansion de la mine dans les riches zones agricoles au nord de Cogon pourrait être dévastatrice pour les communautés liées à la terre qui vivent et cultivent la terre dans cette région », a déclaré Amadou Bah, directeur exécutif d’Action Mines-Guinée. « Mais il est possible d’éviter ces dommages si ces communautés sont véritablement impliquées en tant que partenaires à toutes les étapes du développement du projet. Les sociétés minières opérant en Guinée, y compris la CBG et ses actionnaires, ne doivent pas répéter les erreurs du passé et doivent saisir cette opportunité pour respecter les normes les plus élevées dès le début. »

Attentes des communautés

Les principales demandes des communautés concernées sont les suivantes :

• L’exploitation minière ne devrait débuter qu’après un véritable dialogue et après que les communautés concernées ont donné leur accord sur les conditions dans lesquelles le projet peut se réaliser.

• Le processus de recensement et l’évaluation participative des impacts devraient être totalement transparents, et il conviendrait que la CBG et les communautés parviennent à un accord sur les plans visant à éviter ou à atténuer les impacts négatifs et sur les avantages dont bénéficieront les communautés.
• Une indemnisation équitable devrait être versée, y compris pour les pertes dues aux activités d’exploration actuellement en cours, avant toute expropriation.
• Les communautés devraient avoir accès à des conseillers techniques et juridiques pour les aider dans ces processus.

Les attentes des communautés décrites dans le rapport s’appuient sur les expériences de leurs voisins du sud qui ont déjà été affectés, voire dans certains cas entièrement déplacés, par l’exploitation minière et qui, depuis de nombreuses années, réclament des réparations et des compensations pour les dommages déjà causés.  

« Si cela nous arrive, si la CBG détruit nos terres, nos ruisseaux et nos rivières comme ils l’ont fait de l’autre côté du fleuve, nous sommes pratiquement condamnés », a déclaré Boubacar Bah, dont le village de Teliwora se trouve dans la zone d’exploitation minière envisagée. « Nous savons que la CBG est plus puissante que nous. Mais les habitants de Teliwora sont forts et unis. Nous n’avons pas peur de défendre nos droits. » 

Responsabilités des partenaires commerciaux de la CBG

Le rapport a été présenté lors d’un événement organisé  parallèlement au Forum des Nations Unies sur les entreprises et les droits de l’homme qui se tient cette semaine à Genève. Les intervenants ont également souligné les responsabilités des bailleurs de fonds de la CBG, notamment la Société financière internationale, qu’ils ont appelée à subordonner tout financement futur à la condition que la CBG conclue un accord équitable avec les communautés concernées et réponde aux attentes en matière de respect des droits et de processus de négociation délibératif. Ils ont également appelé les multinationales qui utilisent la bauxite de la CBG dans leurs produits, notamment les constructeurs automobiles Mercedes-Benz, BMW, Audi, GM, Ford, Toyota et Porsche, à soutenir le processus de conclusion d’un accord, notamment en mettant en commun leurs ressources et en utilisant leur influence dans leurs chaînes d’approvisionnement.

L’opportunité pour la CBG de tester une approche novatrice et fondée sur les droits dans le secteur minier Guinéen

Lors de cet événement, Natalie Bugalski, directrice juridique et responsable principale de la politique d’Inclusive Development International, a également présenté une proposition politique récemment publiée par l’organisation. Approuvée par plus de 60 organisations de défense des droits humains, de la justice environnementale et des populations autochtones, cette politique propose un cadre pour une approche fondée sur les droits en matière de participation communautaire à la prise de décision concernant les projets d’investissement qui ont un impact sur les terres et la vie des communautés concernées. Ces organisations invitent la CBG à suivre cette approche dans son engagement auprès des communautés susceptibles d’être affectées par l’expansion de ses activités minières. 

« Une transition énergétique véritablement juste n’est possible que si les populations dont les terres et les ressources sont affectées par l’exploitation minière des minéraux de transition ont leur mot à dire dans la décision de mener ou non cette exploitation et dans les modalités de sa mise en œuvre », a déclaré Mme Bugalski. « Même lorsque les normes les plus élevées de l’industrie sont respectées, ce n’est pas le cas, et c’est pourquoi nous appelons à une approche entièrement nouvelle pour impliquer les communautés liées à la terre, une approche fondée sur le respect de leurs droits et de leur capacité à évaluer les risques, les compromis et les opportunités présentés par l’exploitation minière et à prendre leurs propres décisions en matière de développement. » 

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The actions by the court represent a worrying bias of the Ecuadorian justice system in favor of transnational power, in this case, the Canadian mining companies Silvercorp Metals Inc. and Salazar Resources Ltd. with their local operator Curimining S.A., which, according to local groups, have repeatedly violated human rights, collective rights and the rights of nature, affecting several agricultural communities and their territories. The sentenced defenders, together with thousands of other local inhabitants, have resisted this mining project for almost two decades because it threatens critical water sources that sustain dozens of Indigenous and campesino communities.  

In solidarity with the three sentenced defenders, Inclusive Development International has joined local, regional and international human rights groups in issuing a statement of concern about the systematic use of the justice system to silence and criminalize human rights and nature defenders in Ecuador. We will continue to monitor this case as the judicial process continues with an appeal and we urge Ecuador’s human rights authorities to do the same, given the potential for human rights violations that it entails. 

Read the full statement here. 

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« Nous sommes ravis d’être parvenus à cet accord », a dit Balla Camara, leader communautaire et ancien maire d’une localité voisine. « Lorsque nous avons commencé notre lutte, personne ne pensait que nous pourrions obtenir ne serait-ce qu’un franc de cette société, et l’on nous a dit d’y renoncer, mais nous avons persévéré, et aujourd’hui, nous pouvons à nouveau garder la tête haute. »

Plus de 360 familles ont été chassées de leurs terres et de leurs foyers dans un groupe de villages connu sous le nom de « Area One » dans la préfecture de Siguiri. Beaucoup d’entre elles étaient des familles de mineurs artisanaux, de marchands et d’agriculteurs dont les ancêtres vivaient dans la région depuis plus de 800 ans.

Rôle de la Société financière internationale (SFI)

L’accord de règlement annoncé aujourd’hui est l’aboutissement d’une série de médiations entre l’entreprise et la communauté d’Area One qui a débuté en juillet 2018 sous les auspices du conseiller-médiateur pour la conformité (CAO) du Groupe de la Banque mondiale. Ces médiations ont été entreprises après que les communautés affectées ont déposé une plainte auprès du CAO concernant les liens financiers de la Société financière internationale avec l’exploitant de la mine.

La plainte, déposée avec le soutien des organisations non gouvernementales guinéennes Mêmes Droits Pour Tous (MDT) et le Centre du Commerce International pour le Développement (CECIDE), ainsi que du groupe international de défense des droits de l’homme Inclusive Development International, souligne que la SFI est liée à l’expansion de la mine de Siguiri par l’intermédiaire de son client, Nedbank, qui a accordé un prêt à usage général à AngloGold Ashanti en 2015, année où les expulsions ont commencé. La plainte décrit la mise en œuvre des expulsions dans un contexte de violence, d’intimidation et d’arrestations arbitraires par les forces de sécurité de l’État, et la réinstallation de la communauté dans des conditions désastreuses, sans accès à l’eau, à des locaux scolaires ou aux soins de santé, et sans qu’aucun effort ne soit fait pour rétablir leurs moyens de subsistance.

« Les souffrances endurées par la communauté Area One ne peuvent être réparées. Mais ce règlement contribuera grandement à aider la communauté à reconstruire les moyens de subsistance qu’elle a perdus à cause de la mine », a déclaré Aboubacar Diallo, Directeur executif du CECIDE.

« Cet accord final a été long à obtenir, mais nous devons féliciter les dirigeants d’AngloGold Ashanti d’être restés engagés dans le processus de dialogue pendant toutes ces années et d’avoir finalement apporté une solution satisfaisante aux familles lésées par l’expansion de la mine de Siguiri », a déclaré Fréderic Foromo Loua, Président de MDT.

Au cours des sept années de médiations facilitées par le CAO, les parties ont signé plusieurs accords provisoires relatifs à la sécurité et aux droits de la personne, ainsi qu’à l’amélioration des infrastructures et des services de base sur le site de réinstallation. Dans le cadre de l’accord final, l’entreprise a promis de respecter ses engagements en cours ou en suspens liés à ces accords, notamment l’achèvement des travaux à l’école primaire et au marché, la réparation du poste de santé, l’élimination de la poussière sur les routes principales et l’amélioration du système de drainage sur le site de réinstallation. L’accord de règlement final réaffirme également la responsabilité permanente de l’entreprise de coopérer à toute enquête judiciaire liée à des allégations de violations des droits de la personne dans sa zone d’exploitation ; de divulguer rapidement et de manière accessible ses plans d’exploitation minière aux personnes susceptibles d’être affectées par ces projets ; et, si une nouvelle réinstallation est nécessaire pour mettre en œuvre ses plans d’exploitation minière, de s’engager dans un processus transparent et productif de consultation informée et participative des communautés affectées, conformément aux normes de performance de la SFI et aux principes du consentement libre, préalable et éclairé.

Une victoire rare pour les communautés cherchant réparation aux dommages liés à l’exploitation minière

Le Area One Sustainable Development Fund qui sera créé dans le cadre du règlement final comprend des dispositions innovantes visant à garantir l’appropriation par la communauté et une large participation, ainsi que la transparence financière et la bonne gouvernance. La SFI a également accepté de faciliter le processus d’assainissement en fournissant une assistance technique à la communauté pour l’aider à identifier des projets de développement de moyens de subsistance durables et réalisables – une première pour l’institution de financement du développement qui s’efforce depuis deux ans de finaliser son Approche des mesures correctives.

« Il s’agit d’une victoire extraordinaire pour la communauté d’Area One, qui sera un exemple pour les communautés affectées par l’exploitation minière dans le monde entier », a déclaré David Pred, directeur exécutif d’Inclusive Development International. « Malheureusement, il est extrêmement rare que les communautés qui déposent des plaintes auprès des mécanismes de responsabilité du financement du développement obtiennent des résultats correctifs complets comme celui-ci, et c’est la première fois que nous voyons la SFI soutenir activement une résolution de cette manière. Nous espérons que ce cas présagera de changements à venir et que nous commencerons à voir plus d’exemples de banques de développement soutenant des efforts de réparation lorsque leurs investissements sont à l’origine de préjudices ».

Le CAO suivra la mise en œuvre de l’accord global pendant deux ans.

Un reportage photo sur la lutte et la victoire de la communauté Area One est disponible ici : https://youtu.be/penDPtDm43M?si=OPZsyImLkEAcYHBR

Pour plus d’informations sur l’affaire, voir : https://www.inclusivedevelopment.net/cases/guinea-anglogold-ashanti-gold-mine/

– Réinstallation involontaire pour l’extension d’une mine d’or à Kintinian :  Kintinian, Guinée – Rapport de la mission d’enquête (Janvier 2017), à : https://communitiesfirst.net/2017/01/31/kintinian-report/

– Enrichissement injuste : Comment la SFI profite de l’accaparement des terres en Afrique (avril 2017) à : http://www.inclusivedevelopment.net/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/Outsourcing-Development-Africa.pdf

The post AngloGold Ashanti accepte un règlement financier avec la communauté « Area One » déplacée par sa mine en Guinée appeared first on Inclusive Development International.

“We are overjoyed to have reached this agreement,” said Balla Camara, a community leader and former mayor of the local township. “When we began our struggle, nobody believed we would get one franc from this company and we were told to give up, but we persisted and today we can hold our heads high again.”

More than 360 families were driven from their land and homes in a cluster of villages that became known as “Area One” in Siguiri Prefecture—many of them artisanal miners, merchants and farmers whose ancestors have lived in the region for more than 800 years.

Role of the International Finance Corporation (IFC), the World Bank Group’s private sector arm

The settlement agreement announced today concludes a series of mediations between the company and the Area One community that began in July 2018 under the auspices of the World Bank Group’s Compliance Advisor Ombudsman (CAO). The mediations were initiated after affected communities filed a complaint to the CAO regarding the IFC’s financial ties to the mine operator. 

The complaint, filed with the support of Guinean non-governmental organizations Mêmes Droits Pour Tous (MDT) and Centre du Commerce International pour le Développement (CECIDE), and the international human rights group Inclusive Development International, outlined how the IFC was linked to the Siguiri mine expansion through its client, Nedbank, which provided a general purpose loan to AngloGold Ashanti in 2015, the year the evictions began. The complaint described how the evictions were carried out in the context of violence, intimidation and arbitrary arrests by state security forces, and how the community was resettled into dire conditions, without access to water, schooling or healthcare and no effort to restore their livelihoods.

“The suffering endured by the Area One community cannot be undone. But this settlement will go a long way to helping the community rebuild the livelihoods they lost to the mine, said Aboubacar Diallo, Executive Director of CECIDE.

“This final agreement took a long time to obtain, but we must commend the leaders of AngloGold Ashanti for remaining engaged in the dialogue process all these years and finally delivering a satisfactory remedy to the families who were harmed by the expansion of the Siguiri mine,” said Fréderic Foromo Loua, Executive Director of MDT.

Over the seven years of CAO-facilitated mediations, the parties signed several interim agreements relating to security and human rights and improved infrastructure and basic services at the resettlement site. As part of the final settlement, the company has promised to fulfill its outstanding or ongoing commitments in relation to these agreements, including completing work at the primary school and market, repairs to the health post, dust suppression on the main roads and upgrading the drainage system at the resettlement site. The final settlement agreement also reaffirms the company’s ongoing responsibility to cooperate in any judicial investigations related to allegations of human rights abuses within its area of operations; to early and accessible disclosure of mining exploitation plans to those who may be affected by those plans; and, if further resettlement is necessary to implement its mining plans, to engage in a transparent and meaningful process of informed and participative consultation with affected communities, aligned with the IFC Performance Standards and the principles of Free, Prior and Informed Consent.

A rare victory for communities seeking remedy for mining-related harms

The Sustainable Development Fund that will be established as part of the final settlement includes innovative provisions to ensure community ownership and broad-based participation, along with financial transparency and good governance. IFC has also agreed to support the remediation process by providing technical assistance to the community to help them identify sustainable and feasible livelihood development projects—a first for the development finance institution, which has been working for the last two years to finalize its Approach to Remedial Action.

“This was a tremendous victory for the Area One community, which will be an inspiration to mining-affected communities around the world,” said David Pred, executive director of Inclusive Development International. “Sadly, comprehensive remedial outcomes like this are exceedingly rare for communities that file complaints to development finance accountability mechanisms, and this is the first time we’ve ever seen the IFC actively support a resolution in this way. We hope this case will be a harbinger of change and that we will start to see more examples of development banks supporting remediation efforts when their investments cause harm.”  

The CAO will monitor implementation of the global agreement for two years.

A photo essay of the Area One community’s struggle and victory is available here: https://youtu.be/K_OMze6n1Xg

For more information on the case, see:

– Involuntary Resettlement for the Extension of a Gold Mine in Kintinian: Kintinian, Guinea Fact-Finding Mission Report (January 2017), at: https://communitiesfirst.net/2017/01/31/kintinian-report/

– Unjust Enrichment:  How the IFC Profits from Land Grabbing in Africa (April 2017) at: http://www.inclusivedevelopment.net/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/Outsourcing-Development-Africa.pdf

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Indonesia’s Supreme Court has ruled that an environmental permit granted to the Dairi Prima Mineral zinc and lead mine in North Sumatra should be revoked. This is a major win for local community representatives who have been fighting to stop the mine for many years. Inclusive Development International has been working with these communities since 2019, alongside Indonesian partners including BAKUMSU, a community advocacy NGO that is providing legal aid and that announced the court decision in a press release last week.

Independent international experts have deemed the Dairi Prima Mineral mine a disaster waiting to happen. Plans for an on-site waste storage facility, or tailings dam, are of particular concern to local communities. Given seismic activity in the area and other environmental conditions, mining experts say the dam is almost certain to fail, which could unleash more than 1 million tons of mud and toxic waste on nearby villages. 

After the Ministry of Environment and Forestry granted a permit to Dairi Prima Mineral in 2022, community representatives filed a lawsuit against the company and the Ministry. An Administrative Court in Jakarta ruled in their favor last year, concluding that the company had not adequately consulted local people, and that the mine was located in a disaster-prone area and violated the Right to a Good and Healthy Environment. The Administrative Court ordered that the environmental approval be cancelled. The Ministry and the company appealed that decision, getting it overturned at the High Court level, but community representatives filed an appeal to the Supreme Court, which on August 12 ruled that the original Administrative Court decision should stand.  

Dairi Prima Mineral has pledged to apply for a judicial review of the ruling and said it will continue construction of the mine despite the decision, but backing from the Supreme Court underscores the strength of the communities’ case against the developer.  

“The ruling is a very positive sign for mining-affected communities across Indonesia,” says Inclusive Development International’s senior legal and policy director Natalie Bugalski. “If the Indonesian government is serious about positioning itself as a global hub for responsible mining and production, it should not allow perilous mines like this one, which pose risks that are simply too grave and can’t be managed, to proceed. To do so would demonstrate a total lack of commitment to protecting against the human rights impacts of mining operations.” 

Dr. Bugalski adds: “As the world shifts toward renewable energy and electric vehicles, it is imperative that the minerals and metals needed to fuel this transition are sourced in a way that respects the rights of people living on resource-rich land. We must rapidly transition to renewable energy sources and we need access to the transition minerals to do so—but in some cases, mining operations are simply too reckless to proceed. The Dairi Prima Mineral in North Sumatra mine is one such case.”  

Other experts have also pointed to this case as a litmus test for whether the Indonesian government is willing and able to hold mining companies accountable for their environmental and human rights impacts. Dr. Steven Emerman, a mining environmental consultant with 40 years’ experience, who has reviewed the plans for the Dairi Prima Mineral mine, has called this case a “canary in the coal mine,” saying that if the mine is allowed to proceed, “any manufacturing company seeking minerals for the clean energy transition will have to leave Indonesia…If the Supreme Court’s decision is not implemented, it will show the world that Indonesia has no will to ensure environmental and human rights protections associated with mining.”

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As the joint civil society recommendations note, the world urgently needs to transition away from fossil fuels and to renewable energy sources, but the transition must be pursued in a way that advances justice, equity, and human rights. The joint civil society recommendations are meant to help guide the UN Secretary-General’s Panel toward a transformative approach to increasing transition mineral supply while contributing to a more just global energy system.

Key principles outlined in our recommendations include the importance of ensuring human rights and environmental protections in the mineral supply chain and pursuing equitable reductions in energy and mineral demand.

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In the letter, we propose policies and processes that the World Bank can adopt to avoid or minimize impacts in the future, as well as best practice approaches. 

We recommend that the WBG should:

1. Recognize the need to minimize mineral demand through the full mineral and technology life cycles.
   Technological choices should look to minimize mineral consumption, choose the least impactful mineral sources, and maximize equipment lifespans. Technologies should be manufactured for easy recycling, with investment in environmentally safe recycling facilities. Energy planning must prioritize efficiency and demand management, and penalize wasteful energy use and excessive technology expansion. We recommend that the WBG adopt a coherent approach to minimizing mineral demand across all sector policies.
2. Put national green industrial strategy and just transition at the center of investments, rather than investing in export driven expansionism.
   Mineral-rich countries should be supported to integrate their mineral sectors into a national green industrial strategy, including a just transition plan that is fair and inclusive to everyone concerned, creating decent work opportunities and leaving no one behind. Countries should be supported to develop their own refining and processing industries and renewable technology capabilities, in a way that protects and enhances workers rights and environmental and social protections. In this way countries can capture the most value from the mineral value-chain as possible, and maintain control of resources locally. This approach would require the majority of the support for transition minerals to be delivered through the public arm of the WBG, and not the IFC or MIGA.
3. In consultation with civil society and Indigenous Peoples the WBG should commit to enhanced due diligence in mining practices.
   Following the lead of financial institutions in Europe, we call on the World Bank to ensure it enforces enhanced due diligence practices for all direct investments and those through financial intermediaries, which are applicable along the full mineral supply chain. This should include enhanced environmental and social due diligence, and best practice accountability for human rights, including requiring Free, Prior, and Informed Consent (FPIC) of Indigenous Peoples, with its in principle application for other land-based communities.
4. The World Bank and IFC’s accountability, safeguarding and remedy systems need to be robustly applied to all mining of transition minerals, including through financial intermediaries.
   Given the extractive and damaging nature of mineral mining, it will be essential to always categorize transition mineral projects (mining, processing and technical assistance) as category A high risk projects. The forthcoming IFC Performance Standards Review presents an opportunity to re-enforce the commitment of the IFC to meet best practice, including in transition mineral operations. PS1 which requires community consultation, PS5 relating to land and resettlement, PS6 on forests and biodiversity, and PS7 on protecting the rights of Indigenous Peoples will be critical to ensure the protection of people and planet in mineral mining and processing projects. Past experience of mining operations has shown that other performance standards, such as on water and air pollution, and health impacts will also require particular attention at all mining operations.

Signatory organizations:

1. Recourse
2. London Mining Network
3. Fundación Ambiente y Recursos Naturales (FARN)
4. Center for International Environmental Law (CIEL)
5. AbibiNsroma Foundation
6. Bank Climate Advocates (BCA)
7. Oil Change International (OCI)
8. MenaFem Movement for Economic,Development and Ecological Justice
9. Centre for Research on Multinational Corporations (SOMO)
10. Malach Consulting
11. MiningWatch Canada
12. African Coalition on Green Growth
13. Emmaus International
14. Southern Africa Climate Change Coalition
15. Centre for Climatology and  Applied Research
16. Zimbabwe Climate Change Coalition
17. Society for Threatened Peoples Switzerland
18. Publish What You Pay (PWYP)
19. Pacific Asia Resource Center (PARC)
20. Trend Asia
21. Earthworks
22. Global Justice Now
23. re•generation
24. Inclusive Development International (IDI)
25. Green Environmental Hearts Movement
26. 11.11.11
27. Fossil Free South Africa
28. Stamp Out Poverty
29. CliMates France
30. Indus Consortium for Humanitarian, Enviormental and Development Initiative
31. Friends of the Earth US
32. SIRGE Coalition
33. Climate Generation
34. Scottish Catholic International Aid Fund (SCIAF)
35. African Climate Reality Project
36. CATAPA
37. Instituto Clima de Eleição
38. Jubilee Australia Research Centre
39. Wetlands International Europe
40. Batani Foundation

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