M. Chairman,

1. I have the honor to deliver this statement on behalf of the Group of 77 and China. At the outset, let me thank you for your leadership of this session. The Group wishes to thank the distinguished panelists for their useful presentations on the thematic cluster under discussion.

2. Mining activities play a central role in sustainable development. In many countries, in particular developing countries, the extraction of minerals and associated industrial and service activities account for a significant percentage of economic activity. However, the latest research shows that minerals are being mined at an alarming rate, mining companies have to work harder to source it, and as a result the environmental costs of the process and clean-up are rising exponentially. The environmental footprint of mining looks set to substantively increase into the future.

3. There is a need to urgently address the long-term implications of the increasingly rapid depletion of a range of once vast mineral resources; enhancing transparency on mining activities and the revenues they generate to take a major step forward to ensure that people reap the benefits; integrating mining activities into sustainable development planning; adopting regulations and mitigating environmental impacts over the mining activities, as well as addressing the social impacts of mining activities by integrating and enhancing local people and communities into mining activities.

4. Yet, as the Group emphasized at CSD-18, mining is not exclusively the public sector's domain. Collaboration and partnership between the public and private sector is a crucial factor in ensuring the positive contribution of mining to sustainable development and promoting an equitable distribution of benefits resulting from the extraction of mineral resources. Transparency should not be imposed only at one side. There should be collaboration to create a more sustainable mining activity throughout its life cycle.

5. The Group would like to emphasize that in framing the discussion on mining, it is crucial to underline that States have the sovereign right over their natural resources.

Mr. Chairman,

6. The IPM's recommendations for CSD-19 must keep in line with the three underlying mandates on mining contained in paragraph 46 of the Johannesburg Plan of Implementation (JPOI). Those mandates, among others, support efforts to address various impacts and benefits from mining; enhance the participation of stakeholders; and foster sustainable mining practice through the provision of financial, technical, and capacity building to developing countries.

7. Based on those mandates and in the context of fostering public-private partnership, we recommend the following key policy areas for CSD-19:

- Add value in all stages of the mineral industry, in order to develop upstream and downstream industrial and service activities and promote income generation and job creation.

- To strengthen institutional and legal frameworks at the national level with the aim to prevent the adverse environment and social impacts derived from mining activities and improve their social and economic benefits, in accordance with national legislation.

- To attract investment flows, including foreign direct investment, while also building strong national capacities to negotiate and manage effectively investment inflows.

- We stress that it is important to enhance the participation of all stakeholders, including local and indigenous communities and women.

- Promote fair distribution of the benefits from mining activities among communities. Mining activities should provide benefits to national and local sustainable development.

- Promote the protection of the rights and cultures of indigenous peoples and local communities in mining areas.

- Corporate social, economic and environmental responsibilities in relation to mining extraction activities should be encouraged. It is crucial to promote transparency and accountability and encourage the sharing of good practices, such as sustainability reports that include environmental assessments.

- To strengthen the technical capacities of national institutions dealing with mining, notably in developing countries. To enable the mining sector to contribute more positively to sustainable development, we recommend that sustainable development content be integrated into technical and managerial training for the mining sector.

- To transfer environmentally sound mining technologies and know-how, including the proper management and where necessary, for the rehabilitation of abandoned and orphaned sites. This should include technical and financial support to small-scale miners, a detailed description of the case whether technology transfer has taken place, as well as the overall capital costs of the installations used in the projects, level of knowledge transferred and capacity.

- To address the environmental and social impacts of mining, by building actions based on good practices developed thus far including sustainable mining principles; mine safety and health, including in small-scale mining; management of tailings and waste rocks; rehabilitation of abandoned and orphaned mines; cooperation programmes to promote continuous learning targeting the executives of the mining industry and Governments.

- To continuously improve the safety and health conditions of mineworkers, including artisans and small-scale miners.

- There is also a need to develop regulations to promote the proper management by mining companies including to ensure the rehabilitation of abandoned and orphaned mines and the proper management of waste stockpiles; the development of effective and efficient approaches to the funding of mine closure; enhancing environmental impact assessments and social impact assessments.

8. In this regard, the G77 values the opportunity for dialogue during this biennial cycle of the CSD between governments and including the private sector and all relevant stakeholders in the context of mining, in order to identify the key challenges, enhance cooperation, share experiences and provide analysis on the best-practices of mining.

Mr. Chairman,

9. The resource paper prepared by the bureau on the mining cluster provides a useful background.

10. The Group expects that recommendations on paragraph 7 are duly taken into account in the Chair's draft negotiating text to be circulated on Friday.

I thank you.