News
27th of February 2017
STRADE publishes policy brief on EU raw material import flows
STRADE's policy brief 02/2017 analyses the European import flows of metals in various processing states and the connections with specific environmental and socio-economic issues in resource-rich countries.
27th of February 2017
STRADE publishes policy brief on minerals and metals from non-EU countries
STRADE's policy brief 01/2017 examines the role and responsibility of European institutions to positively influence the environmental and social conditions of raw materials production in non-EU countries.
30th of December 2016
STRADE publishes policy brief on voluntary initiatives, principles and criteria on socio-economic sustainability in mining
STRADE's policy brief 09/2016 reviews socio-economic principles and criteria in voluntary and legally non-binding initiatives with particular relevance for the ore mining sector.
New presentation and report about Conflict Minerals issue available
10th of October 2013 by Stefanie Degreif
Since publication of a UN-report in 2002, it is widely recognized that the mining and trade of minerals in the eastern parts of the Democratic Republic of the Congo significantly contributes to financing violent conflicts. Although the Second Congo War officially ended in 2003, fighting continues in some of the eastern parts of the country, where government forces, militias and armed groups, fight over domination and control.
In reaction to this situation, Section 1502 of the US-American Dodd-Frank Act introduced binding rules for the use of “conflict minerals” in mid-2010. Nevertheless, the implementation of these rules have various and partly unintended consequences for the situation in the eastern DR Congo.
The study „Conflict minerals – An evaluation of the Dodd-Frank Act and other resource-related measures“ analyses the link between resources and conflicts as well as the effects of the Dodd-Frank Acts on the ground. In addition, other measures and initiatives aiming to cut the interrelation between resources and conflicts are described. Based on this analysis, the study provides recommendations for a European response to the conflict mineral issue.
Please find the presentation and the report here.