"Climate change, citizen participation and energy transition require rethinking the mining industry on the continent"

Ministers of Mines, Environment, cooperation organizations, representatives of   private companies, the World Bank, civil society and experts from 7 Latin American countries will analyze the panorama and challenges of the industry for 2021.

 

With the support of the Inter-American Development Bank - IDB, and the leadership of the Colombian Mining Association, together with the main associations of the Latin American mining sector and Jaime Arteaga & Asociados (JA&A), the first Latin American Mining Meeting - ELAMI will be held virtually , an event designed to encourage a regional dialogue in which authorities and experts from Brazil, Argentina, Peru, Chile, Ecuador and Panama will comment on how the industry is facing the economic, environmental and social challenges imposed by the new global scenario.

 

The meeting, which will take place between March 2 and 5 , will bring together for the first time the Ministers of Mines and Environment of the region, who will talk, among others, about the opportunities and advances of the mining industry in the midst of the struggle. against   climate change, the role of democracy and the challenges of citizen participation. The opening of the Meeting will have the participation of the President of the Republic of Colombia, Iván Duque Márquez, as the host country of the event.

 

Mining represents an important percentage of GDP and a significant contribution in income and royalties for some of the main Latin American economies. However, the arrival of the Covid, the contraction in prices, low production, the fall in raw materials and social unrest imply a regional conversation about the new scenarios and challenges of the industry to boost its operations and consolidate its post pandemic.

 

“Mineral producing nations have great challenges for 2021. An increasingly participatory society, climate change, gender equality, competitiveness and environmental sustainability are not conversations outside this industry; A new reality requires us to establish how we should face these challenges and look for alternatives and mechanisms so that the sector continues to be fundamental in the recovery of the economies contracted by the pandemic. ELAMI will be the most opportune space to begin this joint task that we all have, ”said Juan Camilo Nariño, president of the Colombian Mining Association (ACM).

 

The Latin American Mining Meeting will also be the stage where the results of the first public opinion study on the mining industry in the region will be announced. In this regard, Jaime Arteaga de Brigard , General Director of the consulting firm JA&A and co-organizer of the event, noted that “Although 79% of people in Latin America consider that mining well done brings development to the regions where it operates, the recognition of this activity at the municipal level is much less: only 50% of the inhabitants of Latin American countries consider that mining is positive for their municipality.

 

Access will be completely free and attendees will be allowed to generate questions in the different panels with experts in the environment, climate change, energy transition and citizen participation of the region, among others. Those interested may register at no cost and consult the academic agenda at www.encuentrodemineria.com