Mining, Minerals and Sustainable Development North America Towards Change

This fact sheet describes the work and results of the Mining, Minerals and Sustainable Development (MMSD) North America project, culminating in the June 2002 final report 'Towards Change'. The project aimed to identify how the North American mining and minerals industry could move toward sustainable development through collaborative research, scenario planning, and a sustainability assessment framework.

• The final report, 'Towards Change', provides 10 specific recommendations to shift the North American mining and minerals industry toward sustainable development. These recommendations are categorized into addressing the 'legacy issue' (expanding efforts for past impacts and strengthening prevention rules), improving practices (piloting a sustainability assessment framework, improving dispute resolution, and encouraging recycling), enhancing capacity (strengthening research and addressing equity and economic models), and ensuring follow-up on outcomes.
• MMSD North America produced three primary supporting documents: 'Industry in Transition', which describes the North American mineral production system; 'Learning from the Future', which uses four scenarios (New Horizons, Phoenix Rising, Perfect Storm, and Money Divides) to facilitate forward-thinking analysis; and 'Seven Questions to Sustainability', a framework designed for field managers to determine if the long-term net contribution of mining activities to sustainable development is positive or negative.
• The MMSD North America project was facilitated by the International Institute for Sustainable Development in Winnipeg, in partnership with the Mining Life-Cycle Center at the Mackay School of Mines, University of Nevada, Reno. The implementation phase lasted 10 months and involved six 30-person workshops, a dialogue with 100 people, and several hundred additional participants from diverse sectors, including indigenous people, government, labour, and non-government organizations.

APA

International Institute for Sustainable Development (2002). Mining, Minerals and Sustainable Development North America Towards Change. https://www.iisd.org/system/files/publications/mmsd_mining_toward_change_brochure.pdf

Chicago

International Institute for Sustainable Development. Mining, Minerals and Sustainable Development North America Towards Change. 2002. https://www.iisd.org/system/files/publications/mmsd_mining_toward_change_brochure.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=International Institute for Sustainable Development |title=Mining, Minerals and Sustainable Development North America Towards Change |date=June 2002 |url=https://www.iisd.org/system/files/publications/mmsd_mining_toward_change_brochure.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{internationalinstituteforsustainabledevelopment2002mining, author = {{International Institute for Sustainable Development}}, title = {{Mining, Minerals and Sustainable Development North America Towards Change}}, institution = {International Institute for Sustainable Development}, year = {2002}, month = jun, url = {https://www.iisd.org/system/files/publications/mmsd_mining_toward_change_brochure.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }