Mining, Minerals and Sustainable Development North America Towards Change

The MMSD North America project, facilitated by the International Institute for Sustainable Development and the University of Nevada, Reno, produced a final report titled 'Towards Change' which proposes ten recommendations to shift the North American mining industry toward sustainable development. These recommendations focus on addressing legacy issues, improving operational practices through a 'Seven Questions to sustainability' framework, enhancing capacity for research and equity, and adjusting economic models to include social and environmental considerations.

• The MMSD North America project's final report, 'Towards Change', proposes ten recommendations to transition the mining industry toward sustainable development. These are categorized into addressing legacy issues (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 adjusting economic models to better incorporate social and environmental factors.
• The project developed a practical assessment framework called 'Seven Questions to Sustainability' designed for field managers to determine if the long-term net contribution of mining activities to sustainable development is positive or negative. This framework utilizes a hierarchy of objectives, indicators, and measurements and is applicable for planning, financing, licensing, and corporate reporting.
• The MMSD North America initiative involved a collaborative process including six 30-person workshops and a 'North American Dialogue' with 100 participants. Stakeholders included mining companies of various sizes, indigenous people, government, labour, non-government organizations, and academic researchers.

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} }