20th Annual General Meeting of the Intergovernmental Forum on Mining, Minerals, Metals and Sustainable Development
Session 1: Formal Opening and Setting the Scene: Redefining Mining
Dear Mohato Moima, Chair of the IGF Executive Committee,
Dear Nathalie Bernasconi-Osterwalder, Vice-President of IISD,
Excellencies, distinguished delegates, dear participants,
It is a great pleasure to welcome you to the 20th annual general meeting of the Intergovernmental Forum on Mining, Minerals, Metals and Sustainable Development.
UN Trade and Development is honored to host this forum as it provides a unique platform for policymakers, industry leaders, civil society, and international organizations to collaborate on advancing sustainable and responsible mining practices. This forum has supported governments to advance mining governance for the betterment of communities, economies and the environment.
This year we can celebrate 20 years of the IGF – UNCTAD partnership. We have come a long way and the issues at the core of our partnership remain as relevant as ever.
Mining is a fundamental aspect of the climate and environment discussions in global fora, such as at the COP29 in Baku now, or also at the recent COP16 on biodiversity in Cali.
Mining products, and especially critical minerals, are essential inputs for the green technologies required for the energy transition, like wind turbines, solar panels or batteries.
Demand for critical minerals is estimated to triple by 2030 and quadruple by 2040. With large shares of these minerals located in developing countries, the soaring demand can offer a unique opportunity for growth and development. Some even call it the "Gold rush" of critical minerals.
Yet, meeting the increasing demand for critical minerals while minimizing environmental degradation and ensuring social equity is an enormous challenge. Therefore, this year’s topic of the meeting - “Redefining mining and balancing the need for minerals with protecting people and planet” - could not be more relevant.
To address these complex issues, the UN Secretary-General established in April a panel on critical energy transition minerals.
We are fortunate to have some of the panel members here today, including our moderator, Greg Radford, Director of the IGF Secretariat, and esteemed colleagues Adam Matthews, Gerald Mwila, Rohitesh Dhawan, and Yasuko Nishimura.
UNCTAD had the honor to co-lead the Panel’s Secretariat, alongside the UN Secretary-General’s Climate Action Team and the UN Environment Programme.
The panel was remarkably inclusive and brought together diverse perspectives from governments, industry and civil society to identify guiding principles and actionable recommendations for a just energy transition. The principles and actionable recommendations identified cover the full value chain, from exploration and mining to manufacturing and recycling, and address essential issues such as human rights, local value addition and benefit sharing, the rights of indigenous peoples or ecosystem protection.
Last week at the COP in Baku, the UN SG convened a high-level event to share the panel’s work. He emphasized the potential of critical minerals to reduce poverty, while warning against repeating past mistakes, notably the “resource curse.” His message is fully aligned with the panel’s focus and with UNCTAD’s stance: Critical minerals will only be a true opportunity for developing countries if they enable greater local value addition and economic diversification.
What this implies is that we need more investment in local processing, refining and downstream industries to make developing countries capture greater portions of the value chains. Adding more value locally to raw materials will create more domestic employment opportunities and revenues. This will help reduce reliance on raw materials exports and will reduce the exposure of the economy to fluctuations in commodity prices. Additionally, a more diversified economic structure also supports innovation, attracts investment, and fosters partnerships with international firms.
UN Trade and Development is fully committed to supporting countries on this journey and in redefining mining.
In the context of the UN SG panel on critical minerals, we are working with other UN agencies in the implementation of the Actionable Recommendation to establish a High-level Expert Advisory Group on accelerating value addition of critical energy transition minerals. We are also supporting the implementation of the second recommendation on a multi-stakeholder process to develop a global traceability, transparency and accountability framework along the entire mineral value chain.
Our commitment is backed by extensive experience in helping resource-rich developing countries formulate policies for local value addition, economic diversification, and investment attraction. This support is crucial, as according to our research, there is a 225 billion US dollars investment shortfall in critical mineral mining projects in the Global South.
Ladies and gentlemen, dear friends,
“Balancing the Need for Minerals with Protecting People and the Planet” is a big agenda.
It requires commitment and cooperation and a wealth of expertise. In today’s multipolar world, multilateralism and global cooperation are not a given. Forums like this are critical to fostering collaboration.
I now look forward to hearing from the experts about their views and insights on how to redefine mining for the energy transition that we all need. Thank you.
