Abstract
Sustainable Mining in the Philippines.
Since the 1500s, mining has played a critical part in the economic development of the Philippines. With an estimated $840 billion of mineral resources yet to be mined, the opportunities for growth are tremendous. However, several reforms must be considered to ensure that mining contributes to sustainable development. President Duterte’s ‘responsible mining’ policy, while a good framework and sets the direction of the industry, is lacking in defining specific action plans and the governance to implement the plan.
Several factors must be considered in the setting of these action plans. While various environmental and mining regulations already exist, there is poor and inconsistent implementation of these regulations due to the lack of clarity of the roles of local and national governments in policing wayward operators, which often lead to individual or collective conflict of interest. The mandatory environmental impact assessment (EIA) study is often the only tool for seriously looking at significant impacts of individual mine development. The EIA studies takes into consideration: (a) lessons learned from previous incidents; (b) the vulnerabilities of the site and the community; (c) man-made and natural disasters such as flooding, severe typhoons and earthquakes; and (d) reviewing available technologies and methods for minimizing adverse impacts. There are however, very few examples of such studies. This paper contains examples of mine sites and community actions found to have successfully adopted sustainable operational practices that does not lead to long-term degradation of the environment.
Co-authors: Rios, A., CC Lee, FA Monsada, and JR Bacani.
Sustainable Mining in the Philippines.
Since the 1500s, mining has played a critical part in the economic development of the Philippines. With an estimated $840 billion of mineral resources yet to be mined, the opportunities for growth are tremendous. However, several reforms must be considered to ensure that mining contributes to sustainable development. President Duterte’s ‘responsible mining’ policy, while a good framework and sets the direction of the industry, is lacking in defining specific action plans and the governance to implement the plan.
Several factors must be considered in the setting of these action plans. While various environmental and mining regulations already exist, there is poor and inconsistent implementation of these regulations due to the lack of clarity of the roles of local and national governments in policing wayward operators, which often lead to individual or collective conflict of interest. The mandatory environmental impact assessment (EIA) study is often the only tool for seriously looking at significant impacts of individual mine development. The EIA studies takes into consideration: (a) lessons learned from previous incidents; (b) the vulnerabilities of the site and the community; (c) man-made and natural disasters such as flooding, severe typhoons and earthquakes; and (d) reviewing available technologies and methods for minimizing adverse impacts. There are however, very few examples of such studies. This paper contains examples of mine sites and community actions found to have successfully adopted sustainable operational practices that does not lead to long-term degradation of the environment.
Co-authors: Rios, A., CC Lee, FA Monsada, and JR Bacani.