Both the United Nations (UN) Global Compact and the UN’s Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights highlight the risk of industrial or business activity exacerbating or fuelling conflict in high risk or conflict affected areas.
Extraction of precious minerals (particularly gold and the ores that produce tin, tantalum and tungsten) is a key driver of conflict in unstable countries. The OECD’s action on ‘Due diligence guidance for responsible supply chains of minerals from conflict-affected and high-risk areas’ seeks to coordinate global, regional and national efforts to address the nexus between the sourcing of minerals and abuses of human rights – including work done by the European Commission and US regulators.
In order to provide clarity to governments, businesses and civil society stakeholders on the criteria defining a conflict affected or high risk region, participants at this round table meeting assessed and gave feedback on the work already undertaken as well as debating next steps in the international effort to eradicate conflict minerals from the supply chain.
