The United Nations Environment Assembly (UNEA) at its fifth resumed session adopted a resolution entitled “Environmental Aspects of Minerals and Metals Management” (UNEP/EA.5/Res.12) focusing on improving the environmental aspects of mining along their full life cycle.

The resolution requests UNEP to, inter alia:

• convene transparent and inclusive intergovernmental regional consultations, including with relevant international organizations, and multilateral environmental agreements, to feed into a global intergovernmental meeting, with the aim of developing non-prescriptive proposals to enhance the environmental sustainability of minerals and metals along their full life cycle, in line with the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development (operative paragraph 2);
• strengthen scientific, technical and policy knowledge with regard to sand (operative paragraph 4);
• compile a report on knowledge gaps in relation to the environmental aspects of tailings management (operative paragraph 5); and
• report to the United Nations Environment Assembly at its sixth session on the progress achieved in the implementation of the present resolution, including through a summary report on the consultations for consideration by the Environment Assembly at that session.

UNEA Resolution 5/12 builds on UNEA resolution 4/19 on mineral resource governance. Read more about this resolution here.

The list of nominated national focal points for the UNEA resolution 5/12 intergovernmental process is available here.

The implementation of the resolution relies on the financial support from the Government of Switzerland, the European Commission and the Government of Finland.