Stakeholders across the mining industry are not doing enough to support environmental, social, and governance (ESG) efforts, according to the Responsible Mining Foundation (RMF).
The RMF has called for the "normalisation of prevention of harmful impacts across the industry" in a new report.
The body said its ‘Harmful Impacts of Mining: when extraction harms people, environments and economies' shows that harmful impacts are not inevitable, but they continue to happen worldwide and not only in areas with limited regulations.
It said a lack of adequate corporate measures to prevent harm is by far the most common cause of the reported incidents identified in the study, beyond cases where harmful practices are permitted by law, intentional acts, or integrated into regular business procedures.
It described current measures as "basic building blocks" of responsible mining that can't guarantee harmful impacts would be avoided.
Hélène Piaget, chief executive officer of RMF, said: "The prevalence of mining-induced harmful impacts seen in the study sample of around 1'000 mine sites from 38 companies points to the high risk of such harm across the estimated 35'000 mine sites worldwide.
"We still observe high levels of worker fatalities and injuries despite years of international conventions on worker safety.
"And communities in mining areas are too often exposed to polluted environments and other dangers. The normalisation of prevention needs to be prioritised across the industry."
