FUNDAMENTAL ENVIRONMENTAL PRINCIPLES FOR THE MINING SECTOR.

Governments, mining companies and the minerals industries should as a minimum:

1. Recognize environmental management as a high priority, notably during the licensing process and through the development and implementation of environmental management systems. These should include early and comprehensive environmental impact assessments, pollution control and other preventative and mitigative measures, monitoring and auditing activities, and emergency response procedures.

2. Establish environmental accountability in industry and government at the highest management and policy-making levels.

3. Encourage employed at all levels to recognise their responsibility for environmental management and ensure that adequate resources, staff, and requisite training is available to implement environmental plans.

4. Ensure the participation and dialogue with the affected community and other directly interested parties on the environmental aspects of all phases of mining activities.

5. Adopt best practices to minimise environmental degradation, notably in the absence of specific environmental regulations.

6. Adopt environmentally sound technologies in all phases of mining activities and increase the emphasis on the transfer of appropriate technologies which mitigate environmental impacts including those from small-scale mining operations.

7. Seek to provide additional funds and innovative financial arrangements to improve environmental performance of existing mining operations.

8. Adopt risk analysis and risk management in the development of regulation and in the design, operation, and decommissioning of mining activities, including the handling and disposal of hazardous mining and other wastes.

9. Reinforce the infrastructure, information systems service, training and skills in environmental management in relation to mining activities.

10. Avoid the use of such environmental regulations that act as unnecessary barriers to trade and investment.

11. Recognise the linkages between ecology, socio-cultural conditions and human health and safety, both within the workplace and the natural environment.

12. Evaluate and adopt, wherever appropriate, economic and administrative instruments such as tax incentive policies to encourage the reduction of pollutant emissions and the introduction of innovative technology.

13. Explore the feasibility of reciprocal agreements to reduce transboundary pollution.

14. Encourage long term mining investment by having clear environmental standards with stable and predictable environmental criteria and procedures.