About the Dialogues

Minerals and metals play a central role in the global economy, as they provide the raw materials we need for industrial processes and daily use. Despite enormous efforts to decouple economies from resource use, the extraction of mineral resources has increased markedly in recent decades and, over the last decade, at a faster rate than economic growth. This trend is forecasted to steadily increase in the future, as we struggle to meet the mineral resource needs of a growing global population.

The topic of sustainable management of minerals has never been so high on the global political environment agenda and the reason is that minerals are essential for the future. The energy transition, infrastructure and digitalization processes, among others, represent greener solutions. However, unsustainable extraction, manufacturing, use and disposal of resources is having important detrimental impacts on people and the planet. With an expected 500 per cent increase in the demand for minerals (from 2018 production levels), environmental challenges are going to be even more acute.

The sixth session of the United Nations Environment Assembly (UNEA-6) adopted a resolution on the environmental aspects of minerals and metals (UNEP/EA.6/Res.5) marking an important step in global efforts towards sustainable resource management, emphasizing the importance of the sustainable management of mineral and metal resources in contributing to the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals. It underscores the need for enhanced action to support environmentally sustainable practices in the mineral and metal industry.

Various actors in Geneva are engaged in ensuring enhanced action to support the environmental sustainability management of minerals and metals along their full lifecycle. As Geneva is at the center of numerous debates and negotiations in the fields of science, health, human rights, development, trade and green finance, employment, peacebuilding and security, disaster risk reduction, humanitarian response, nature conservation, chemicals and pollution, as well as new technologies and innovation, the dialogues can be a conducive platform to explore interlinkages between these topics and mineral and metal resources governance.

The dialogues are organized by the Geneva Environment Network in partnership with Switzerland, Senegal, UNEP/GRID-Geneva, the International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD), the Intergovernmental Forum on Mining, Minerals, Metals and Sustainable Development (IGF), The Forum on Trade, Environment, & the SDGs (TESS) and the World Resources Forum

In addition to the dialogues, the regularly updated webpage on Mineral Resource Governance and the Role of Geneva serves as a communication tool to increase the visibility of the environmental aspects of minerals and metal resources agenda and the role of the various institutions in the region.

Mineral Resource Governance and the Role of Geneva

First Series of Dialogues

The first series of dialogues will be launched in January/February 2025. Although the dialogues target stakeholders from all continents, they aim to encourage increased engagement of the international Geneva community in the run-up to various global environmental negotiations and conferences:

• 58th Session Human Rights Council | 24 February – 4 April 2025
• 30th Session of the International Seabed Authority (Part I) | 3 – 28 March 2025
• UNECE Resource Management Week (including 16th Session of the Expert Group on Resource Management) | 24 – 28 March 2025
• Basel, Rotterdam and Stockholm Conventions COPs | 28 April to 9 May 2025
• 59th Session Human Rights Council | June 2025
• 30th Session of the International Seabed Authority (Part II) | 23 June – 25 July 2025
• World Resource Forum | 2 – 3 September 2025
• 60th Session Human Rights Council | September 2025
• Minamata Convention on Mercury COP | 3 – 7 November 2025
• IGF Annual General Meeting | November 2025
• UN Forum on Business and Human Rights | November 2025
• UNFCCC COP30 | 10-21 November 2025
• UNEA-7 | December 2025

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