Column: Trump 2.0 won’t reverse Biden’s critical minerals push
Donald Trump has described the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) as a "green scam" and vowed to repeal it after he returns to the White House in January.
The Responsible Minerals Initiative (RMI) and The Copper Mark announced Thursday the launch of the RMI’s Risk Readiness Assessment (RRA) and the RMI’s and Copper Mark’s joint Criteria Guide, version 3 – both now publicly available to all interested stakeholders.
The RRA is a set of mineral-agnostic criteria for responsible production, sourcing, processing and recycling of minerals and metals. Version 3.0 of the RRA consists of 33 criteria covering environmental, social, and governance (ESG) risks, and it defines due diligence requirements and responsible production, sourcing, processing and recycling practices for minerals and metals against which users can assess their performance, RMI said in a press release.
The RRA was created by the RMI in 2017, has been completed by more than 600 mines, smelters, refiners, manufacturers and recyclers, across a broad range of metals, and has provided visibility for hundreds of downstream companies relying on RRA users’ voluntary disclosure of self-assessment results.
The RMI will align its ESG Standard to the RRA. Currently, the ESG assessment scope is at the facility level, and it will now be expanded to include supply chain risks. The RRA version 3.0 will be effective starting January 1, 2024, for companies interested in completing the RMI’s updated RRA self-assessment offline, and available through the RBA-Online tool from April 1, 2024.
The RRA Criteria Guide is also used by The Copper Mark to define the requirements its participants have to meet to receive the Copper Mark, Nickel Mark, Zinc Mark or Molybdenum Mark.
To date, over 80 sites participate in the Copper Mark Assurance Process, undergoing an independent third-party assessment of their practices at site-level against the RRA Criteria Guide.
Starting January 1, 2024, The Copper Mark will require all its new participants to be assessed against the requirements of the RRA Criteria Guide, version 3.0. Current participants that are due for assessment in 2024 will be able to choose between versions 2.0 and 3.0 of the RRA Criteria Guide and, from 2025 onward, all Copper Mark participants will be required to implement version 3.0.
With the revision, the RMI and The Copper Mark aim to define industry-specific ESG practices grounded in the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights (UNGP) and in the OECD 6-step due diligence framework, as well as aligning with the most recent developments in regulations and industry best practices.
They require companies to identify, assess, prevent and mitigate risks and adverse impacts associated with company operations and supply chains. By building on those international frameworks, the RRA supports regulatory preparedness in many jurisdictions. Version 3.0 of the RRA also recognizes ongoing industry efforts that can be demonstrated via credible standards and globally established protocols and methodologies.
“Version 3.0 of the Risk Readiness Assessment marks an important milestone in the expansion of the RMI’s suite of tools to support robust ESG due diligence,” Jennifer Peyser, Executive Director of the RMI said in a statement.
“Multi-stakeholder consultations have made version 3.0 a strong foundation upon which to build the RMI’s company self-assessment tool and an updated ESG Standard to meet international norms and shared expectations of upstream and downstream companies and stakeholders, and to support emerging regulatory requirements.” Peyser said.
The RMI said it will continue to promote the uptake of ESG due diligence in the industry, and foster dialogue between upstream and downstream supply chain actors around responsible mineral production practices.
