Initiative for Responsible Mining Assurance
IRMA
IRMA’s vision is a world where the mining industry respects the human rights and aspirations of affected communities; provides safe, healthy, and respectful workplaces; minimizes harm to the environment; and leaves positive legacies.
ID: 844715146915-91
Lobbying Activity
Meeting with Joan Canton (Head of Unit Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship and SMEs)
12 Mar 2025 · Need for standards systems for socially and environmentally responsible mining, links to IRMA standard and CRM Act.
Response to Postponement of deadlines within the Accounting Directive for the adoption of certain ESRS
15 Dec 2023
The Initiative for Responsible Mining Assurance is tracking development of sector-specific European Sustainability Reporting Standards (ESRS) for the mining sector under EFRAG and their proposed delay. We urge the European Commission to adopt a robust standard for the mining sector paired with independent third-party auditing and transparent reporting, without delay. IRMA was formed in 2006 in response to global demand for social and environmental responsibility in the mining sector. Our engagement over the past 17 years across mining company, affected community, NGO, organized labour, investor, and purchasing company sectors has informed our position that multi-stakeholder governed, robust standards for the mining sector paired with independent third-party site-level audits and transparent public reporting are essential to sustainable raw material supply chains and the responsible mining sector management needed for a just energy transition. We urge the European Commission to adopt a robust standard like IRMAs, with holistic and detailed coverage of requirements including stakeholder engagement, the right of Indigenous Peoples to Free Prior and Informed Consent, human rights due diligence, labour rights, environmental and social impact assessment and management, gender equality and gender protections, benefit sharing, revenue transparency, anti-corruption and anti-bribery, biodiversity protection, GHG emissions reporting, mine waste and tailings management, and the full range of international frameworks and requirements reflected in the IRMA Standard for Responsible Mining. In addition to the holistic coverage required to responsibly manage the wide range of impacts and potential benefits of the mining sector, a credible framework must also be governed by a multi-stakeholder body that gives equal authority to affected communities, NGOs, and organized labour as the private sector. Furthermore, independent third-party audits at the mine site level with transparent public reporting are necessary to build trust in reported data and promote accountability and continuous improvement. Anything less than this robust approach, including limiting requirements to company self-reporting, invites greenwashing that can weaken trust in reported data. We invite the European Commission to adopt robust standards for the mining sector without delay and join us in our mission to ensure that where mining takes place it respects the human rights and aspirations of affected communities, provides safe, healthy, and supportive workplaces, minimizes harm to the environment, and leaves positive legacies.
Read full responseResponse to European Critical Raw Materials Act
27 Jun 2023
Critical Raw Materials Act IRMAs recommendations on the European Commissions draft proposal Enhancing Environmental and Social Responsibility in Mining Through Due Diligence The role of certification schemes as outlined in Article 29 and Annexes III and IV in the CRMA should be clarified, both in terms of how they should be used as well as their limitations. Certification schemes and audits are but a single tool and one source of data for ensuring responsible mining practices and due diligence, as also pointed out by the OECD . Recommendation 1: Article 29 paragraph 3 should state, The Commission shall verify periodically that recognised schemes continue to fulfil the criteria laid down in Annex IV and are used in combination with other due diligence tools to ensure Strategic Projects fulfill the highest environmental and social standards. IRMA welcomes the inclusion of Article 29 addressing the need for certification schemes and the accompanying criteria in Annex IV. The term certification scheme houses many different types of schemes, however, and it is important to differentiate them. Most are industry schemes developed and overseen by industry and do not have the same legitimacy and credibility by all stakeholders as IRMAs equal governance, multi-stakeholder model. Recommendation 2: To ensure the highest social and environmental mining standards are required for Strategic Project status, IRMA suggests inserting the following (highlighted in orange) criteria into Annex IV: Criteria for certification schemes A recognised certification scheme shall meet the following criteria: (a) it is open under transparent, fair and non-discriminatory terms to all economic operators willing and able to comply with the schemes requirements; (x) there is multi-stakeholder governance of the standard with equal voting power across public (e.g., NGO, affected community, and organised labour) and private sector (e.g. companies and investors) seats (x) the level of detail and depth of coverage of the standard across all relevant environmental and social topics is reflective of best practices (x) the scheme is a member of the ISEAL Alliance. (b) the requirements for certification shall include at least: (i) requirements ensuring environmentally sustainable practices, including requirements ensuring environmental management and impact mitigation; (x) these practices specifically include no deep-sea mining and no deep-sea tailing placement (ii) requirements for ensuring socially responsible practices, including respect for human rights and labour rights; (x) access to a meaningful grievance mechanism to address any concerns that arise related to the standards and assurance system, in line with the United Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights. (iii) requirements for ensuring business integrity and transparency including requirements to apply sound management of financial, environmental and social matters; (a) verification and monitoring of compliance is objective, based on international, Union or national standards, requirements and procedures and carried out independently from the relevant economic operator; (x) required use of third-party audits and certified independent third-party auditors (x) audits at the mine-site level and not just a representative sample of a companys operations (x) audits are publicly noticed in advance, allowing workers, affected communities, and other stakeholders and rights holders the opportunity to learn about the process, what to expect, and how to engage (x) high level of onsite engagement throughout the audit process with local stakeholders including the local community, workers, civil society, trade unions and rights holders (x) detailed public audit reports
Read full responseResponse to European Critical Raw Materials Act
24 Nov 2022
Upholding high-level multi-stakeholder governed environmental and social standards for the mining sector, like those in the Initiative for Responsible Mining Assurance (IRMA) Standard for Responsible Mining, is essential to the EUs objectives of ensuring security of critical raw materials (CRMs) supply and a just and green energy transition. Exploration, extraction and processing of CRMs cannot be undertaken in a manner that overlooks any aspect of such high-level standards, and the related need to engage with and respect the rights of local stakeholders and rights holders and protect their environments. The IRMA Standard for Responsible Mining is widely recognized as a gold standard for the mining sector based on its multi-stakeholder governance, depth of coverage, and inclusive and transparent mine-site level audit and reporting process. The IRMA Standard recently received support from the European Parliament in its Critical Raw Materials report, wherein Parliamentarians call on the Commission to use IRMA as a starting point when developing a standard for responsible mining. The IRMA Standard applies to industrial scale mining and incorporates best practices based on international law and policy frameworks and the experience of mining companies, communities, workers, and other stakeholders and rights holders. IRMA recommends that the CRM Act align with the best practices identified in the IRMA Standard for Responsible Mining. Please see the attached for our full response to the Call for Evidence.
Read full response