Mining has a significant impact on the health of ecosystems and people: for instance, the migration of pollutants from mining waste sites to nearby food cultivation areas or downstream fishing grounds can affect human rights such as the right to health, water and food. Therefore, it is especially important to mainstream biodiversity and human rights in this sector.
Together with partners, SwedBio contributed to enhancing the mainstreaming capacities of various actors in a webinar on October 3rd (Spanish session), and 5th (English session). The webinar explored tools and strategies to understand and act upon the effects of mining on human rights, including the right to a safe and healthy environment in different countries, especially in the Global South. They specifically addressed impacts on different groups in society, across time and across different localities. The webinar also included a case study in Colombia focusing on the role of the public administration in promoting good governance and preventing environmental harm by the mining sector.
As Dr. Ituarte-Lima, one of the speakers, explained:
“People, individually and collectively, can contribute to prevent and address the impacts of mining on life support systems through exercising human rights, such as the right to information, participation and access to justice” Dr. Claudia Ituarte-Lima, international environmental law advisor at SwedBio and researcher at Stockholm Resilience Center
The webinars are part of the learning series on Environmental Governance of the Mining Sector hosted by the NBSAP Forum, a global partnership to support the development and implementation of effective National Biodiversity Strategies and Action Plans (NBSAPs), in collaboration with the Swedish Environmental Protection Agency, UNDP, and GOXI, a platform for sharing in governance of the extractive industries.
More information is available here.
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Private: Claudia Ituarte Lima