Research Insights

MMSD – reflections on gaps remaining

by Luke Danielson

Two decades after the Global Mining Initiative and the Mining Minerals and Sustainable Development Project (MMSD), Luke Danielson – who served as Director – takes the opportunity for reflection on what this effort achieved, where it fell short, and what remains to be done – as identified in RMF's Closing the Gaps.

Read more

Accelerating responsible mining: spotlight on industry and multistakeholder initiatives

In support of the normalisation of responsible mining practices across the industry, RMF has conducted assessments of effective performance across a sample of six initiatives (EITI, ICMM, MAC TSM, UN Global Compact, the VPs, and WGC RGMP).

Read more

Why is gender still off the agenda of mining companies?

The Responsible Mining Foundation has been tracking gender action by mining companies since 2017 and the latest results are just in. The findings again show striking contrasts in what companies choose to focus on – gender balance in headquarter teams is quite widely addressed while gender in affected communities is largely ignored.

Read more

Beyond emissions reductions: climate change and mining

Commendable and important as mining companies’ commitments to become carbon-neutral are, emissions reduction is only one element of a responsible response to climate change. Recent research by RMF reveals that action to assess and address climate-related risks on people and environments impacted by mining – yet essential for a just transition – is conspicuously missing from current efforts by mining companies.

Read more

Fostering community-company engagement to address environmental impacts of mining

Recent initiatives by ETH and RMF illustrate the potential for mining-affected communities to actively engage with local mining companies on environmental issues.

Read more

Commodity trading transactions with governments: corporate transparency still rare

Recent research by RMF shows that very few of the companies making these trades disclose data about the payments they make. Normalisation of the public disclosure of commodity trading transactions is critically important to support financial integrity and good governance of extractive resources.

Read more

Time to normalise respect and remedy for Human Rights in mining

What is the current status of human rights in the mining sector? Ten years after the adoption of the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights (UNGPs), data from the RMI Report 2020 shows that the large mining companies assessed score on average a low 19% on human rights-related issues.

Read more

Tailings risks: maintaining momentum

At the second anniversary of the tailings dam burst in Brumadinho, Brazil that killed at least 270 people and destroyed the livelihoods and environments for many others, the mining industry seems more willing than ever to take the issue of tailings risks seriously.

Read more