Framework for Responsible Mining Authors
MARTA MIRANDA
Marta Miranda was the Senior Program Officer for Extractive Industries in the World Wildlife Fund’s Macroeconomics for Sustainable Development Program Office (MPO). Prior to joining the MPO, Marta spent nine years at the World Resources Institute, where she conducted research on global extractive industries policies, with a national emphasis on Venezuela, the Philippines, and Papua New Guinea. While at WRI, she also helped establish the Venezuela chapter of Global Forest Watch, a project aimed at tracking development and change in the world’s forests. Marta edited and authored several peer-reviewed articles and books, including Mining and Critical Ecosystems: Mapping the Risks; The State of Venezuela’s Forests: A Case Study of the Guayana Region; and All That Glitters Is Not Gold: Balancing Conservation and Development in Venezuela’s Frontier Forests.
Originally from Portugal, Marta holds an M.A. in Geography from San Diego State University and a B.A. in Geography from the State University of New York, Geneseo. Ms. Miranda is fluent in Portuguese and Spanish.
Marta was the author of Chapters 1 and 4, and also served as the overall substantive editor of the framework.
DAVID M. CHAMBERS, Ph.D.. P. Geop.
Dr. Chambers is the president of the Center for Science in Public Participation. See the "EXPERTISE" page of this website for a more lengthy description of his experience.
Dave was the author of Chapter 2: Ensuring Environmentally Responsible Mining
CATHERINE COUMANS, Ph.D.
Dr. Coumans is Research Coordinator and responsible for the Asia-Pacific Program at MiningWatch Canada. MiningWatch Canada is a non-profit organization supported by environmental, social justice, Aboriginal and labour organisations from across Canada.
As Research Coordinator, Catherine has supervised Canadian and international research projects and authored peer reviewed reports on topics such as full cost accounting for mining, revitalizing economies of mining dependent communities, and participatory health research with women in mining communities and with women mine workers. Her publications in journals and books on mining include a chapter in Moving Mountains: Communities Confront Mining and Globalization; The Case Against Submarine Tailings Disposal, in Mining Environmental Management; Research on Contested Ground: Women, Mining & Health, in Pimatisiwin; and Canadian Companies in the Philippines: Placer Dome, in Undermining the Forests.
Catherine works with regional Non-Governmental Organizations and, in most cases, directly with mining affected communities in India, Burma, Thailand, Indonesia, the Philippines, Papua New Guinea and Kanaky-New Caledonia. Her work has particularly focused on indigenous peoples affected by Canadian mining companies in this region. She has provided expert testimony on mining in two congressional inquiries in the Philippines, as well as before the Constitutional Court in Indonesian.
Catherine’s academic engagement with mining’s impact on communities dates back to her Ph.D. research on the island of Marinduque in the Philippines in 1988-1990. She holds an M.Sc. (London School of Economics) and a Ph.D. (McMaster University) in Cultural Anthropology and carried out Postdoctoral research at Cornell University. She has taught at Cornell and McMaster.
Catherine is the author of Chapter 3 and its associated appendixes.
Acknowledgements
This document seeks to build on many prior efforts to identify environmentally and socially responsible mining practices undertaken by others in the NGO, industry, and academic communities. The authors gratefully acknowledge the work of others, including as a result of the Mining, Minerals, and Sustainable Development (MMSD); Extractive Industries Review (EIR); Global Reporting Initiative (GRI); the World Conservation Union (IUCN)-International Council on Mining and Metals (ICMM) dialogue, and the GRI mining sector supplement. The authors are also grateful for the support and insights provided by Stephen D’Esposito, Payal Sampat, and Alan Septoff at EARTHWORKS throughout the development of this project.
Comments were sought on earlier drafts of this framework from representatives of mining companies, local communities affected by mining, social and environmental NGOs, academics, labor organizations, and governments. The authors would like to thank Anna Cederstav, Richard Cellarius, Peter Colley, Luke Danielson, Cristina Echavarria, Keith Ferguson, Antonio La Viña, Stu Levit, Ingrid Macdonald, Fergus MacKay, Paul Mitchell, Glenn Mpufane, David Putt, Michael Rae, Mohammad Rafiq, Keith Slack, Viviane Weitzner, Ian Wood, and Carlos Zorrilla for their insightful comments. Reviewers provided comments reflecting their professional expertise. Their participation should not be interpreted as an institutional endorsement from any organizations with which they are or have been affiliated. While recognizing the contributions of those mentioned above, the authors take full responsibility for the opinions expressed in this draft framework.
The authors would also like to thank those whose current and past support made this report possible: Brainerd Foundation, Bullitt Foundation, Ford Foundation, Goldman Fund, Scherman Foundation, Tiffany & Co. Foundation, True North Foundation, and Wilburforce Foundation.