Leading indigenous networks submit commentary for the ongoing review of the ICMM position statement
"Comments for the review of the Indigenous Peoples & Mining Position Statement of the International Council on Mining and Metals (ICMM)" 19th June, 2024
Asia Indigenous Peoples Network on Extractive Industries and Energy (AIPNEE) and Right Energy Partnership with Indigenous Peoples (REP) jointly submit this commentary for the ongoing review of the Indigenous Peoples & Mining Position Statement of the International Council on Mining and Metals (ICMM), including with reference to draft of the Position Statement shared by the ICMM on 4 June 2024...
We at AIPNEE and REP convey our serious concerns that the ICMM has not undertaken meaningful and broad consultations with Indigenous Peoples’ representatives from around the world for the review of the Position Statement....
That is despite our repeated requests to the ICMM to 1) organize targeted consultations with Indigenous Peoples... and 2) carry out a publicly transparent and time bound review process with information provided about how Indigenous Peoples and other stakeholders can engage at various points...
Below, we lay out our key concerns with draft of the Position Statement...
- Free, Prior and Informed Consent (FPIC) – Our foremost concern is that the draft Policy Statement, under Commitment 4, fails to recognize Indigenous Peoples right to FPIC...
- Benefit sharing... We call on the ICMM to commit its members to benefit sharing in the form of royalties and/or co-owernship for the affected Indigenous Peoples to ensure shared prosperity from their project or activity...
- We call on ICMM members to specifically involve those subsets of Indigenous communities in more vulnerable situations in the the decision making process of the communities...
We hope that the ICMM will amend the draft Position Statement as per our comments and revisions and in line with international human rights laws and standards. We stress that the draft Position Statement in its current form is unacceptable unless the problematic commitments related to FPIC and other issues are revised....