It is crucial to ensure that the global shift to clean technologies does not come at the detriment of African communities, potentially bearing the brunt of corruption, pollution, and environmental damage if sound policies and robust institutions are not in place. Additional challenges stem from the fact that substantial reserves of critical minerals are increasingly found in hotspots for biodiversity, fragility, and conflict, as well as lands traditionally belonging to indigenous peoples. This is where a sustainable development licence to operate (SDLO) can provide a framework of principles, policy options and good practices to address ESG risks, manage public finance risks caused by a sudden growth in extractive revenues, enhance the extractive sector’s contribution to achieving the SDGs and to improve the net societal benefits of mining.
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