GUÍA PARA LOS GOBIERNOS: MEJORAR LOS MARCOS LEGALES PARA LA EVALUACIÓN Y GESTIÓN DE LOS IMPACTOS AMBIENTALES Y SOCIALES

The guide outlines a comprehensive legal framework for managing the environmental and social impacts of large-scale mining throughout its entire lifecycle. It identifies 20 essential components for a robust legal system, ranging from sustainable development commitments and public participation to financial guarantees for mine closure. The document provides a phased approach for government action—covering exploration, planning, construction, operation, and closure—and offers practical tools, such as gap analyses and checklists, to help governments improve their regulatory governance and avoid the social and environmental legacies of abandoned mines.

• A comprehensive legal framework for mining must include 20 core components to ensure environmental protection and sustainable development, including consistency across legal instruments, clear identification of responsible authorities, and the requirement of social and environmental standards for all mine life phases proportional to risk.
• Public engagement and transparency are critical pillars of the framework, requiring constant public participation throughout the mine's life, established guidelines for consultations, and clear access to social and environmental information.
• The framework must mandate specific tools for risk management, including screening procedures to determine when a full ESIA is necessary, the creation of Environmental and Social Management Plans (ESMP), and the provision of adequate financial guarantees for mine rehabilitation and closure.
• Government oversight must be continuous and coercive, involving periodic reviews of progress reports, inspections, and sanctions proportional to the level of infringement to ensure that permit conditions are met.
• Mine closure planning must be an iterative process that addresses both environmental and socioeconomic transition issues, requiring periodic updates to closure plans and final inspections before the relinquishment of title.
• To improve legal frameworks in practice, governments should conduct a 'gap analysis' comparing their current laws against international best practices and avoid the 'legal stabilization' of environmental and social provisions to allow for continuous regulatory updates.

APA

International Institute for Sustainable Development (2020). GUÍA PARA LOS GOBIERNOS: MEJORAR LOS MARCOS LEGALES PARA LA EVALUACIÓN Y GESTIÓN DE LOS IMPACTOS AMBIENTALES Y SOCIALES. https://www.iisd.org/system/files/2020-08/igf-esia-summary-es.pdf

Chicago

International Institute for Sustainable Development. GUÍA PARA LOS GOBIERNOS: MEJORAR LOS MARCOS LEGALES PARA LA EVALUACIÓN Y GESTIÓN DE LOS IMPACTOS AMBIENTALES Y SOCIALES. 2020. https://www.iisd.org/system/files/2020-08/igf-esia-summary-es.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=International Institute for Sustainable Development |title=GUÍA PARA LOS GOBIERNOS: MEJORAR LOS MARCOS LEGALES PARA LA EVALUACIÓN Y GESTIÓN DE LOS IMPACTOS AMBIENTALES Y SOCIALES |date=2020 |url=https://www.iisd.org/system/files/2020-08/igf-esia-summary-es.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{internationalinstituteforsustainabledevelopment2020gua, author = {{International Institute for Sustainable Development}}, title = {{GUÍA PARA LOS GOBIERNOS: MEJORAR LOS MARCOS LEGALES PARA LA EVALUACIÓN Y GESTIÓN DE LOS IMPACTOS AMBIENTALES Y SOCIALES}}, institution = {International Institute for Sustainable Development}, year = {2020}, url = {https://www.iisd.org/system/files/2020-08/igf-esia-summary-es.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }