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Amid a global infrastructure boom, there is increasing recognition of the ecological impacts of the extraction and consumption of construction minerals, mainly processed as concrete, including significant and expanding threats to global biodiversity. We investigated how high‐level national and international biodiversity conservation policies address mining threats, with a special focus on construction minerals. We conducted a review and quantified the degree to which threats from mining these minerals are addressed in biodiversity goals and targets under the 2011–2020 and post‐2020 biodiversity strategies, national biodiversity strategies and action plans, and the assessments of the Intergovernmental Science–Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services. Mining appeared rarely in national targets but more frequently in national strategies. Yet, in most countries, it was superficially addressed. Coverage of aggregates mining was greater than coverage of limestone mining. We outline 8 key components, tailored for a wide range of actors, to effectively mainstream biodiversity conservation into the extractive, infrastructure, and construction sectors. Actions include improving reporting and monitoring systems, enhancing the evidence base around mining impacts on biodiversity, and modifying the behavior of financial agents and businesses. Implementing these measures could pave the way for a more sustainable approach to construction mineral use and safeguard biodiversity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim: Mining is increasingly pressuring areas of critical importance for biodiversity conservation, such as the Brazilian Amazon. Biodiversity data are limited in the tropics, restricting the scope for risks to be appropriately estimated before mineral licensing decisions are made. As the distributions and range sizes of other taxa differ markedly from those of vertebrates—the common proxy for analysis of risk to biodiversity from mining—whether mining threatens lesser‐studied taxonomic groups differentially at a regional scale is unclear. Location: Brazilian Amazon. Methods: We assess risks to several facets of biodiversity from industrial mining by comparing mining areas (within 70 km of an active mining lease) and areas unaffected by mining, employing species richness, species endemism, phylogenetic diversity and phylogenetic endemism metrics calculated for angiosperms, arthropods and vertebrates. Results: Mining areas contained higher densities of species occurrence records than the unaffected landscape, and we accounted for this sampling bias in our analyses. None of the four biodiversity metrics differed between mining and nonmining areas for vertebrates. For arthropods, species endemism was greater in mined areas. Mined areas also had greater angiosperm species richness, phylogenetic diversity and phylogenetic endemism, although less species endemism than unmined areas. Main Conclusions: Unlike for vertebrates, facets of angiosperm and arthropod diversity are relatively higher in areas of mining activity, underscoring the need to consider multiple taxonomic groups and biodiversity facets when assessing risk and evaluating management options for mining threats. Particularly concerning is the proximity of mining to areas supporting deep evolutionary history, which may be impossible to recover or replace. As pressures to expand mining in the Amazon grow, impact assessments with broader taxonomic reach and metric focus will be vital to conserving biodiversity in mining regions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Although many studies focus on environmental conflict and debates around sustainable development, more research is needed to deepen the understanding of the links between the frames upheld by actors involved in environmental conflicts and governance processes. We propose a dialogue between political ecology and governance to study how divergent valuations of the environment shape intense and long‐term mining conflicts and impact on environmental governance. Focusing on the case of La Alumbrera in Argentina, we argue that three factors disrupt environmental governance and deepen the conflict: divergent valuations that consolidate a growing distance among the images portrayed by the actors; the unequal emphasis that the actors place on the problems and solutions that mining generates; and the inability of the state and mining corporations to process the notions of difference that emerge from the territories. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The application of AASB 6 by extractive industries firms is examined to determine the issues and challenges faced by financial statement preparers when applying the standard. The results show that while the area‐of‐interest method is extensively chosen to account for exploration and evaluation costs, there was lack of consistency in its description. Interviews revealed that while preparers reported flexibility in the application of AASB 6, they sought more guidance to reduce reliance on external publications. The findings show that while preparers supported the retention of AASB 6, more guidance on its application was needed, especially in its interaction with new accounting standards and regulations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Arctic Environmental Responsibility Index (AERI) covers 120 oil, gas, and mining companies involved in resource extraction north of the Arctic Circle in Alaska, Canada, Greenland, Finland, Norway, Russia, and Sweden. It is based on an international expert perception survey among 173 members of the International Panel on Arctic Environmental Responsibility (IPAER), whose input is processed using segmented string relative ranking (SSRR) methodology. Equinor, Total, Aker BP, ConocoPhillips, and BP are seen as the most environmentally responsible companies, whereas Dalmorneftegeophysica, Zarubejneft, ERIELL, First Ore‐Mining Company, and Stroygaz Consulting are seen as the least environmentally responsible. Companies operating in Alaska have the highest average rank, whereas those operating in Russia have the lowest average rank. Larger companies tend to rank higher than smaller companies, state‐controlled companies rank higher than privately controlled companies, and oil and gas companies higher than mining companies. The creation of AERI demonstrates that SSRR is a low‐cost way to overcome the challenge of indexing environmental performance and contributing to environmental governance across disparate industrial sectors and states with divergent environmental standards and legal and political systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: As foreign aid donors are increasingly open about seeking to obtain benefits from their development assistance, new forms of donor‐driven private‐sector partnerships have proliferated. This new trend is especially controversial in the mining sector, to which Canada has become the largest aid donor among OECD‐DAC countries. Purpose: In order to better understand this phenomenon and its implications, this article asks, first, how has aid to the mining sector evolved and what do the changes suggest about its underlying motives? Second, what are the implications regarding the "democratic ownership" of the recipients' development agenda? Approach and methods: The study analyses Canadian aid to the mining sector in Peru, its largest recipient of such aid, concentrating on the period since 2011, when Canadian aid took an "extractive turn." It draws on 20 semi‐structured interviews with key players and observers in Lima and Cusco in Peru, as well as an in‐depth review of mainly secondary sources and some statistical data. Its analytical framework is based on the motives that must underpin aid, as stipulated by Canadian legislation, and the concept of "ownership," the cornerstone of the international aid effectiveness agenda. Findings: The extractive turn in Canadian aid reflects an increase in commercial self‐interest, at the expense of altruistic poverty reduction and contradicting core elements of the legislated mandate of Canadian aid. Extractive‐related aid to Peru now almost exclusively supports: (a) strengthening the central government's role in promoting mining; (b) encouraging municipalities to negotiate mutually beneficial relations with Canadian mining companies; and (c) subsidizing Canadian companies' efforts to obtain a "social licence to operate" from local communities. Canada's assistance to the mining sector can be justified by a narrow interpretation of the concept of country "ownership." However, its justification rests on a limited vision of ownership, based on what governments, who claim to speak on behalf of citizens, prioritize, rather than a more democratic conception that takes into account what poor people want, which may include or preclude mining activities. Policy implications: Aid donors should focus on locally owned strategies that reflect poor people's priorities, independently of whether they include or exclude allowing mining companies to operate on their territories. Aid may thus contribute to a donor's commercial interests, but the latter should not be the underlying motive. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this commentary we trace an important change in the use of social licence for resource‐intensive development projects. Social licence is shifting from an approach used by companies to improve relations with affected communities to a concept now used by environmental justice groups, non‐governmental organisations and local communities to contest unpopular resource‐intensive development projects. The term "going rogue" is a productive metaphor to explore this important change in the role of social licence. We focus on the different logics behind how social licence is being used by progressive groups to protest resource‐intensive development, weak state policies and broader economic processes. We end by exploring what the shifting terrain for social licence means for the politics of resource extraction. Social licence is shifting from an approach used by companies to improve relations with affected communities to a concept now used by environmental justice groups, non‐governmental organizations and local communities to contest unpopular resource intensive development projects. We focus on the different logics behind how social licence is being used by progressive groups to protest resource intensive development, weak state policies and broader economic processes. We end by exploring what the shifting terrain for social licence means for the politics of resource extraction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article explores the dynamics of natural resource conflicts and local government in the Peruvian Andes. Recent publications have found that efficiency and democratic accountability in local government are key variables for mitigating conflict. By focusing on the ethnographies of two conflicts and as participant observers within local government, we argue that by re‐framing the analytical focus within local histories and current practices of natural resource conflicts, we can better make sense of the dynamics of current land politics. The article presents a sequential framework that explores key moments of the relations between the state and peasant communities during natural resource conflicts. Through this framework, we argue that natural resource conflicts are negotiated in a sphere of politics that transcends the state's institutional and legal limits. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A social license to operate (SLO) has become imperative for extractive and resource‐intensive industries due to their high potential for conflicts. Firms are still struggling to maintain their SLO despite its growing importance. Because most of the extractive industries orient on sustainable development strategies (SDS), this paper investigates the relationship between SLO and SDS through an exploratory study by means of eight semistructured in‐depth interviews. Content analysis of these interviews is done by Atlas.ti software. In essence, this paper provides a perspective on how firms working in extractive industries can employ SDS to gain and maintain an SLO. Along with focus SLO, the study reveals the growing importance of stakeholders in the said industries and gives the direction of how managing the stakeholders can help the firms in the long run. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: The purpose of this paper is to understand how the context in mining projects influences the corporate social responsibility (CSR) strategy to earn a social licence to operate (SLO). This paper also presents a comparative case study analysis of four mining operations in Peru. This analysis was qualitative in nature and is complemented with insights from supplementary key informant interviews and the emerging literature on SLO and CSR. The findings show that mining projects with a complex‐unstable context take considerable effort and a longer process to earn an SLO. In this situation, it is not recommended that companies use either a defensive strategy or compliance. Instead, the company must use strategic and managerial strategies to reduce social conflicts. Also, when the context is low or of moderate uncertainty, it is preferable to use strategic and managerial strategies in order to gain an SLO. Copyright © 2018 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The salmon industry in Chile experienced large and rapid growth over the past three decades and by 2008 Chile was the second largest producer of salmon in the world after Norway. However, the industry was affected by a sanitary crisis that impacted on its growth and forced a change in production strategies. This paper argues that the post-crisis scenario shows the deepening of an enclave economy in Los Lagos region that is changing the way in which the industry participates in rural development. Starting with a literature review on enclave and extractive economies I characterise the salmon industry as an enclave, and then examine evidence from the field to identify local effects in rural communities of this new form of relationship. I conclude by calling for a revitalisation of the geographical debates on enclave economies from a political ecology perspective to better understand communities' interaction with extractive economies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Extractive industry activities are today an integral part of social life and economic relations across multiple sites. Yet, how and under which conditions do extractive industries insert themselves within and potentially transform territorial dynamics, social relations, and local governance arrangements? The debate is often polarized between competing narratives of social critique depicting corporate power, conflict, and imposition and insider perspectives stressing corporate social responsibility and environmental sustainability. This article offers an ethnographic account of oil exploration in the Peruvian Amazon coupled with a broader discussion about legitimacy building at the extractive frontier. Addressing the multiple ways in which oil companies engage with local constituencies and socially embedded economic relations, it suggests how social relations have gone from being a residual matter of contention to becoming an area of strategic intervention and corporate action through safeguard measures and social licenses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Women play an important role in social activism challenging the expansion of extractive industries across Latin America. In arguing that this involvement has been largely unrecognised, this paper explores Andean Peruvian and Ecuadorian women's accounts of their activism and the particular gendered narratives that the women deploy in explaining and legitimising this activism. These discussions contribute to understanding the patterning of grassroots activism and making visible the gendered micro-politics of resistance and struggle around natural resource use, as well as to understanding the gendered and strategic ways in which women contest dominant discourses of development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores the relation between sustainability performance and sustainability disclosure within the Australian extractive industries. The study utilizes Ullmann's (1985) stakeholder framework, which depicts sustainability disclosure and performance as two components of management strategy for dealing with stakeholder demands. Consistent with this framework, we predict a positive performance-disclosure relation. Extending prior research that has utilized problematic environmental performance indices such as CEP indices or toxic emissions levels, we develop a sustainability performance index based on the International Finance Corporation's Measuring Sustainability Framework (2001). Using data from 339 mining and energy firms listed on the Australian Securities Exchange in 2006, we find that corporate sustainability performance is strongly associated with disclosure as expected. Sustainability disclosure is also greater for firms with a proactive communication strategy as manifested through press release activity.Finally, asset age and firm size are both positively associated with sustainability, consistent with predictions from the stakeholder framework. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The rapid growth in the past decade in transparency and accountability initiatives (TAIs) in the extractive industries sector reflects attempts to devise institutional mechanisms to make governments accountable for the extraction, allocation and use of revenues that, if well invested, could alleviate socio-economic inequalities among citizens. Understanding and measuring the impact and effectiveness of these initiatives is a matter of proposing and empirically validating a causal link between interventions and governance improvements. To do this requires improved data collection, reporting and analysis; a stronger focus on the allocation and use of government expenditures that come from natural-resource wealth; and a better understanding of importance of incentives and sanctions for ensuring effective impact. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We calibrate the effect of Australia's Capital Gains Tax (CGT) on share prices and market activity. Based on a large sample drawn from all listed Australian companies for the years 1994-2007, we find significant tax-loss selling (TLS) of shares that lost value over the financial year, which is reflected in unusually high trading volume and more sell orders in June and a rebound in July. There is some evidence that small mining stocks are particular targets for TLS. Interestingly, the 1999 CGT reforms, which introduced concessions for long-term capital gains, did not reduce the incidence of TLS. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

One of the difficulties of integrating environmental variables into sociological analyses is that societies have a dualistic relationship with the biophysical environment. Humans are like other species in depending on the environment, yet humans are also unique among all species in the potential for altering and sometimes evading environmental constraints. A second and related difficulty results from the degree to which humans incorporate the environment into their everyday views of reality; the process often seems so automatic that the biophysical realities can be forgotten, taken for granted, or ignored, both by residents and by those who study them. This problem is particularly significant for studies that fail to be sufficiently comparative to be able to observe significant variations in environmental and technological factors. The problem is illustrated with a study that deals with a relatively traditional social- psychological dependent variable-attitudes toward a proposed development The focus is on the apparent paradox of a form of industrial development that has been welcomed with open arms in one area of the country while virtually opening armed warfare in another, namely drilling for offshore oil. To explain the marked differences across regions, it is necessary to understand the influence of biophysical and technological variables, as well as the social and historical differences across the regions. Implications for further research are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]