Environment Forum
Global environmental challenges
Private sector’s role in reducing the use of ‘conflict minerals’
A view of a traditional gold mine, near the eastern Congolese town of Kamituga, a mining town.
The following is a guest host by Dunstan Allison Hope, managing director of BSR’s Information, Communications, and Technology Practice. He is also co-author of “Big Business, Big Responsibilities.” The opinions expressed are his own.
Buried in the 2,300-page U.S. financial reform bill that President Obama signed on July 21 is a little-noticed provision taking aim at a very different type of market: the international trade in so-called “conflict minerals” from the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).
These minerals — tantalum, tin, and tungsten — are found in everyday products from cell phones and computers to aircraft engines and cutting tools, and this first-of-its-kind legislation will require publicly traded companies using the minerals to file an annual report with the Securities and Exchange Commission to declare if they, or companies in their supply chain, are sourcing from the DRC or an adjoining country.
With so many industries and high-profile brands using these minerals, it’s not surprising that the U.S. government is targeting global business and their supply chains to address the challenge of conflict minerals. No one likes the idea of using products containing conflict minerals — especially if you remember similar issues with “blood diamonds.” Given the choice, we would buy elsewhere.
But for those of us who are working with corporations to tackle big global problems, the financial reform bill’s provisions raise three important questions:
Green Global Voices: Web 2.0 Environmental Activism
Kenyan blogger Juliana Rotich is the editor of Green Global Voices, which monitors citizen media in the developing world, and will be a regular contributor to these pages. ReutersThomson is not responsible for the content — the views are the author’s alone. We welcome her first blog:
Environmental bloggers and activists around the world are increasingly using web 2.0 tools to bring attention to issues ranging from deforestation, conservation and global warming. These are some of the innovative projects I have linked to recently as environment editor on Global Voices Online.
Blogs and video
The global network of Wildlife Direct blogs are a strong example of how to use multimedia in defense of endangered species. Their chairman, Richard Leakey, a conservationist, frequently records video clips from across Africa on his blog
The views of the younger generation on Wild Life Direct are exemplified by the postings on the Wildlife Clubs of Kenya blog. This mobile education unit visits schools in Kenya, recording videos of their conversations with children about the need for conservation and appreciation of the natural environment.
The Gorilla Protection blog uses the internet to provide environmental news from war torn Democratic Republic of Congo. They provide constant updates and photos from the rangers in Virunga National Park, who risk their lives daily to protect mountain gorillas from extinction.
Flickr
Have you seen the lionguardians blog on wildlfe direct? They are trying to conserve wild lion populations outside the tourist National Parks and try to encourage the support of the Maasai to protect them.
Thanks Dunstan. Big companies – major electronics and jewelry companies in particular – should also help set up a Miners Livelihood Fund with donors, for any miners who might be disaffected in the interim period while proper tracing, auditing, and certification is being set up.
They are also critical to ensuring that any certification systems include independent oversight/monitoring.
For more information, see http://www.cnn.com/2010/OPINION/08/03/co ngo.conflict.minerals/index.html Thanks