Policymakers’ day on minerals, development, and transversal CRM topics

Demand for critical minerals is accelerating as governments seek to secure resilient supply chains for the energy transition. Ensuring responsible investment and engagement with mineral-producing countries is essential to fostering stable supply while supporting local economic development. This session will explore how governments can attract sustainable investment, navigate governance and security risks corruption and security concerns, and implement policies that enhance transparency, promote value addition, and build long-term supply chain resilience.

As demand for critical minerals grows, unleashing investment along supply chains is essential for sustainability and security. This event explores how leveraging ESG principles, strengthening the rule of law, and using development assistance can de-risk nvestments and create more attractive environments for businesses and capital. Private sector representatives will join policy makers to discuss how responsible governance, regulatory stability, and strategic support can mitigate risks, enhance transparency, and unlock sustainable growth in critical mineral markets.

International commodity traders play a pivotal role in mineral supply chains. As intermediaries, traders connect multiple actors across geographically dispersed parts of the chain, blending and handling minerals from diverse origins to meet client requirements for location, mineral grade, and timing. This can lead to due diligence challenges related to spot market purchases, reliance on short-term contracts, and the need to manage commercially sensitive information. This session will explore practical examples of these due diligence challenges and explore emerging and prospective solutions for responsible sourcing and enhanced transparency.

While the past 10 years of implementation of the OECD Due Diligence Guidance for Responsible Mineral Supply Chains have seen the emergence of traceability and disclosure requirements, information flow remains a systemic challenge. The lack of reliable information on the material origin, geographical path, chain of custody, and physical transformation can hinder meaningful risk assessments, risk mitigation and remediation. Additionally, incomplete or unreliable due diligence information on suppliers’ practices undermines the credibility of due diligence claims. This session will examine different facets of this challenge, including trust and commercial sensitivity, due diligence scheme credibility and under-utilisation of existing data sources.

ASM holds significant yet underrecognised potential in helping meet the growing demand for many critical minerals. This session will explore how governments and industry can leverage ASM contribution to foster more constructive engagement with the sector to promote responsible sourcing.

ASM mining cooperatives may face multiple challenges starting from administrative burden related to incorporation, to access to finance, and implementation of responsible mining practices, as well as coercion or solicitation for illegal payments in high-risk areas. Participants will discuss practical solutions to strengthen the cooperative model to support ASM communities, including through support from supply chain counterparts.

When done responsibly, central bank purchases of gold produced by domestic artisanal and small-scale gold miners (ASGM) can enhance miners’ livelihood, strengthen gold market integrity, build reserves and bolster financial resilience. The session will discuss lessons learnt from ASGM responsible sourcing, including insights by signatories of the London Principles on Central Bank Artisanal Small-scale Gold Mining Domestic Purchase Programmes.