NGO Mining Working Group

Vision

The NGO Mining Working Group (MWG) works for improvements in national and international law, policy, and practice to ensure that extractive activity:

• Meets and upholds the highest human rights standards – civil, political, economic, social, and cultural rights;
• Cedes to ecological limits and planetary boundaries, takes all possible measures to minimize negative impacts at every stage and includes effective guarantees for maximum restoration; and,
• Contributes to just and responsible economic, social, and sustainable development for the host country, with a priority for the local communities most directly affected

Mission

The NGO Mining Working Group is a coalition of NGOs that, in partnership with our members and affected local communities, advocates at and through the United Nations for human and environmental rights as related to extractive industries. The MWG addresses unjust and unsustainable extractive practices and policies through the lens of the rights of local communities and indigenous peoples and Earth’s carrying capacity.

The MWG promotes a human – and ecological – rights framework as the foundation for sustainable and just natural- resource management. The MWG calls for just and transparent international policies, advocates for national laws and practices that meet the highest international standards and obligations, and calls for intervention to address violations. In this context, the group also advocates for the use of economic benefits of resource extraction for the holistic and long-term social, economic, and sustainable development needs of local communities.