The

History

of

the

IntergovernmentalForum

on

Mining,

Minerals,

Metalsand

Sustainable

Development

(IGF)How

did

theIGF

emergeastheglobalforumformorethan80membercountriesadvancinggoodmininggovernanceforsustainabledevelopment?Origins

With

the

UnitedNationspartiescollaborated

on

paragraph

46

oftheJohannesburgPlanof

Implementation,whichoutlinedthefollowingprioritiesforstakeholders:The

IGF

originatedattheUnited

Nations(UN)2002

World

Summiton

SustainableDevelopment

inJohannesburg,SouthAfrica.UNmemberswithaninterest

inminingtook

actionto

raise

awareness

abouttheminingsector’s

importanceforsocialandeconomicdevelopment,

thevalue

ofmineralsfor

modernliving,andtheneedto

enhancecontributionsfrommining.

The?addressingthe

environmental,economic,

health,

and

socialimpactsand

bene?ts

of

mining,

minerals,

andmetals;?enhancing

the

ability

ofstakeholdersto

play

an

activeroleinthe

sector;andThe

History

of

theIGF?supporting

countrieswith?nancial,technical,and

administrativecapacityto

governmining

operations.Development

(UNCTAD),

theparticipantnationsheldtwo

preparatory

meetingsatthePalais

desNationsin

Geneva

in2003and2004.

Duringthesemeetings,thepartiesnegotiatedterms

andprepared

tolaunchthenewforum.A

Novel

Type

of

UNPartnershipThe

IGF

was

launchedinFebruary

2005,with25

countriesasfoundingmembersandwas

recognizedbytheUN2

asa

TypeIIpartnershiplinked

to

theJohannesburgsummit.Acknowledging

the

lack

of

a

suitableglobal

forum

to

advance

the

concernsand

priorities

of

resource-rich

countriesasoutlined

inparagraph

46,Canada

andSouth

Africa

spearheaded

a

UN

Type

II1partnership

to

?llthe

void.

Itwas

named

theGlobal

Dialogue

on

Mining,

Minerals,

Metalsand

Sustainable

Development,

and,

fromthe

outset,

itwas

intended

to

be

a

platformfor

governments

to

share

experiencesand

collaborate

to

advance

sustainabledevelopment

through

mining.Founding

membercountries

in2005BoliviaMauritaniaMoroccoNigerBurundiCanadaDominicanRepublicNigeriaAtotal

of

53countriesparticipatedintheGlobalDialogue.

Together,

they

decidedthattheirobjectives

wouldbe

bestachieved

byestablishingamore

formal,member-drivenintergovernmental

forumforresource-richcountries.

WithsupportfromthePhilippinesRomaniaSenegalEswatiniEthiopiaGabonSouthAfricaSurinameTanzaniaUgandaGhanaUnited

NationsConference

on

Trade

andGuineaKenya“The

GlobalDialoguehasourwholeheartedsupportpreciselybecauseitseeks

to

engagegovernments

inconstructivediscourseabouttheissuesfacingcountriesthataimto

basetheirdevelopment

on

mineralandmetalsproduction.”MadagascarMalawiUnited

KingdomUruguayThe

Government

of

Canada

was

thefounding

host

of

the

IGFSecretariat,and

itadministered

its

operations

for

10years

throughGlobal

Affairs

Canada

andNatural

Resources

Canada.

In2005

the

IGForganized

its

?rst

AnnualGeneral

Meetings(AGMs),

hosted

by

UNCTAD

atthe

Palaisdes

Nations.LAKSHMI

PURIDirector,

DivisiononInternational

Trade

in

GoodsandServicesand

Commodities,UNCTAD,

onJune1,2004,atthe

GlobalDialoguemeetingattheUNPalaisdesNations,

Geneva1

The

Type

IIpartnershipmodelwas

developed

attheJohannesburgsummitto

allow

formoreflexibleandvoluntary

partnershipsinvolving

any

combinationof

governments

andotheractors.2

The

IGF’s

Type

IIpartnershipwas

registered

withtheUNDepartmentof

EconomicandSocialAffairsDivisionforSustainableDevelopment.2The

History

of

theIGFTHE

IGF

AND

UNCTADUNCTAD

hasbeen

anessentialpartnerof

theIGF

sinceitsinception,hostingandcontributingto

early

foundationalmeetingsleadingto

theIGF’s

creation.

This

partnershipcontinuesto

thepresent

day,

withUNCTAD

havinghosted

every

in-personIGF

AGM

atthePalais

desNationsin

Geneva.

The

annualgatheringanchorstheIGF’s

activitiesandhasbecomeanunparalleledevent

for

convening

andengagingpolicy-makers.

Itisalsoaforumfordiscussions,peerlearning,andconnectionbetween

representatives

fromindustry,

academia,international,non-governmental,

andcivilsociety

organizations.Ashostof

theAGM,UNCTAD

isaninstrumentalIGF

partner.The

IGF’s

Mining

PolicyFrameworkThe

six

pillars

of

the

MPFAt

the2010

AGM,IGF

membercountriesrati?edthecornerstone

Mining

PolicyFramework

(MPF),acompendiumof

bestpracticesthatsupportgood

governanceinmining.Informedbytheneedsandexperiences

of

IGF

members,theMPFLegalandPolicyEnvironmentoutlineshow

government

canensurethebene?tsof

miningareoptimizedandequitably

sharedto

maximizethesector’scontributionto

sustainabledevelopment.FinancialBene?tOptimizationImportantly,

theMPFalsoprovides

aclearmandatefortheIGF

to

work

withgovernments

to

advance

theirsustainabledevelopment

goalswitheffective

laws,policies,andregulationsfortheminingsector.

This

work

includesSocio-economicBene?tOptimization?conveningdialoguesand

eventstoadvancebest

practices,peer

learning,and

engagement;EnvironmentalManagement?guidancedocuments,

research,andpublications;??in-country

MPF

assessments;

andPost-Mining

Transitioncapacity

building

and

technicaltrainingforgovernments.The

IGF’s

scope

covers

thefullmininglifecycle,

fromexploration

to

mineclosureandpost-mining

transition,andprojectsof

allsizes,fromartisanalminingto

large-scaleoperations.ArtisanalandSmall-ScaleMining3The

History

of

theIGFIGF

AND

THE

UN

COMMISSION

ON

SUSTAINABLE

DEVELOPMENTInaccordancewithitsoriginsasa

Type

IIpartnershipatthe2002Johannesburgsummit,theIGFreported

on

itsactivitiesandprogress

duringtheUN

Commissionon

SustainableDevelopment

(CSD)

18meetingin2010.

The

next

year,

theIGF

submitteditsnewly

rati?edMPFat

CSD19

forconsiderationby

governments

anddelegates

fromotherorganizationswithaninterest

inmining.

The

IGF

alsopresented

avisionandproposed

parameters

foragreaterUNroleinmining,re?ectingtheviews

andinterests

of

IGF

membercountries.MPF

assessments

completed

asof

2023publishedassessment

reportthatidenti?esstrengths,weaknesses,

andgapsinexistingmininglaws,policies,andregulationsandprovides

recommendationsfor

improvementbasedon

thebestpracticespresented

intheMPF.

The

second

phaseinvolves

theIGFSecretariat

providing

capacity-buildingandtechnicalassistance

basedon

theassessment’s

?ndingsandrecommendations.DominicanRepublicMongoliaNamibiaPanamaRwandaSenegalSurinameUgandaEcuadorHondurasJamaicaKyrgyzstanMadagascarMauritaniaMexicoContinuing

Growth

andEvolutionIn2015,

10

years

after

itwas

founded,theIGF’s

membershiphadnearly

doubledtoinclude47

nations.Inthesameyear,

theGovernment

ofCanadadecidedto

movetheSecretariat’s

administrationoutsideofGlobalAffairsCanadato

bettermeettheneedsof

thegrowingIGF

membershipandthenewly

adopted

SustainableDevelopmentGoals(SDGs).

Canadaprovided

core

fundingto

theInternational

Institute

for

SustainableDevelopment

to

take

over

theSecretariat’sadministrationstartingin

October

2015.To

date,

theIGFSecretariat

hasworked

with15membergovernments

to

assess

theirnationalframeworks

againsttheMPFintwo

phases.

The

?rstisanMPFassessment,whichincludesanin-county

visitandstakeholderoutreach.Itculminateswitha“

We

noted

withsatisfactiongrowingsupportforarenewed

UNinterest

inmininginthecourse

of

CSD

18.

Webelieve

thatminesministries,throughtheIGF

andasdemonstrated

byitsMPF,

are

ideally

placedto

play

akey

globaladvisory

role

on

thefullspectrumof

mining-relatedissues.”In2021,theGovernment

of

theNetherlandsjoinedCanadaasacore

funderof

theSecretariat,allowingtheIGF

to

broadenitswork

offerings

andallocatemoreresources

to

helpsupportgovernments

inimplementingtheSDGs,includingimportantissuessuchasgenderequality,

sustainableeconomicgrowth,climateaction,andcriticalmineralsfortheenergy

transition.IGF

CHAIR

(MALAWI)attheIntergovernmental

Preparatory

MeetingforUN

CSD19

onMarch2,2011,

inNew

York

City4The

History

of

theIGFNew

IGFmembers

2005–2015ArgentinaBotswanaBrazilMaliMexicoMongoliaMozambiqueNamibiaBurkinaFasoCameroonEgyptPapua

NewGuineaGuatemalaHondurasIndiaPeruRussiaSierraLeoneZambiaJamaicaKazakhstanKyrgyzstanNew

IGFmembers

2015–2023Membershipgrowth

hascontinued,withmore

than80nationsnow

sittingasIGFmembers,includingmostof

theworld’s

majorminingjurisdictions.

This

growth

re?ectstheincreasingrelevance

of

miningandthedemandfor

better

governance.AfghanistanArmeniaBhutanLiberiaMyanmarNetherlandsPanamaCambodiaChadParaguayIn2022,theIGF

beganamultistakeholderprocess

to

update

theMPFto

meetitsmembers’evolving

needs—resource-richcountriesface

theprospect

of

increasingdemandforcriticalmineralsfortheenergytransitionandcallsfor

more

inclusiveandequitablepracticesto

ensurebetterenvironmental,social,andeconomicperformance.

The

updated

MPFwillbe

tabledforrati?cationby

IGF

membersatthe19thAGM

inNovember2023.ColombiaCosta

RicaEcuadorElSalvadorFijiRepublicof

theCongoRwandaSaudiArabiaSomaliaSouthSudanSudanFranceGeorgiaGermanyGuyanaIrelandSwedenThailandTogoThe

IGF

hasbecometheleadingintergovernmental

policy

forumon

miningandsustainabledevelopment.

This

member-led,voluntary

partnershipisopento

allUNcountriesworkingto

usemineralresourcesto

contributeto

sustainabledevelopment.United

States

ofAmericaIslamicRepublicof

IranZimbabweLaosLesotho5?2023

The

InternationalInstituteforSustainableDevelopmentPublishedbytheInternationalInstituteforSustainableDevelopmentThis

publicationislicensedundera

Creative

Commons

Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike

4.0International

License.IISDIGFThe

InternationalInstituteforSustainableDevelopment

(IISD)isanaward-winningThe

Intergovernmental

Forum

onMining,Minerals,MetalsandSustainableDevelopment

(IGF)supportsmorethan80membercountriesinadvancingtheirsustainabledevelopment

goalsthrougheffective

laws,policies,andregulationsfortheminingsector.

We

helpgovernments

takeactionto

develop

inclusiveandgender-equitablepractices,optimize?nancialbene?ts,supportlivelihoods,andsafeguardtheenvironment.Ourwork

covers

thefullmininglifecycle,

fromexplorationto

mineclosure,andprojectsofallsizes,fromartisanalminingto

large-scaleoperations.Guidedbyourmembers’needs,we

provide

in-country

assessments,capacitybuilding,technicaltraining,publicat