Negotiating Indigenous Sustainability

Measures of protection in agreements with mining

companies

Meerim Kylychbekova & Logan Hennessy

UNPFII

Salekhard, July 2007

Labrador and Newfoundland

Voisey’s Bay

Snap Lake

Ekati

Voisey’s BayVoisey’s Bay Nickel Company (VBNC)

AND

the Labrador Inuit Association

AND

the Innu Nation

AND

the government of Newfoundland

AND

the government of Canada

2002

http://www.cypressdevelopmentcorp.com/images/maps/voisbay.gif

Voisey’s BayFive Years of Negotiations

Leveraged Land Claims

Skills Development Center

Business Development Committee

Hiring Priorities

Women’s Education and Training Programs

Voisey’s BayEnvironmental Management

Advisory Board 2 from regional government

2 from federal government

2 from Labrador Inuit Assoc.

2 from Innu Nation

1 independent chair

http://www.nr.gov.nl.ca/voiseys/mine_site.htm

Voisey’s Bay

Environmental ManagementSpecial Committee on Caribou

Continuous Electronic Monitoring of Water and Air

Alternative Nickel Processing

Recycling

http://www.esri.com/news/arcnews/summer02articles/summer02gifs/p20p1-lg.gif

http://www.dfdickins.com/images/marine/marine-ArcticShip.jpg

Voisey’s BayShipping Agreement

Voisey’s Bay Nickel Co.

Preventive Measures

Taku River Tlingit First Nation

Mining Policy March 2007

“Our Land is Our Future”

TRTFN government decision processes

TRTFN’s standards and expectations for mining-related activities

Procedures for seeking the consent and support of TRTFN

Taku River Tlingit First Nation

Company must apply to the TRTFN

TRTFN evaluates the proposal

Requires environmental assessment

Requires Impacts and Benefits Agreement

Agreement with government

Taku River Tlingit First Nation

Benefits for Government

Stronger role of Involvement

Clear guidelines for risk and responsibilities

Subsidized community development

Subsidized education and training

Subsidized infrastructure improvements

Benefits for Companies

Long-term company strategy

Minimizing costs

Good Industry Practice

Comprehensive Baseline Studies

Capacity Building

Further Support for Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK)

Financial Transparency

Climate Change

New Directions for Agreements

Role of the UNFPII?

Standards for Indigenous Sustainability in Contracts

Public Access to Information – informed consent

Need for future research

Developing a guide to Good Neighbor Agreements

Translation into Russian

Distribution in Far East communities

Ongoing work with RAIPON

Preparing to Negotiate

Top 10 Things to Avoid

Benefit Sharing

Environmental Monitoring

‘Successful’ Good Neighbor Agreements

Information Resources

A Guide to Good Neighbor Agreements

Thank You

Yana Dordina, Rodion Sulyandziga, Pavel Sulyandziga, Misha Jones, David Gordon, Sibyl Diver, Leah Zimmerman, Paul Robinson, Sarah Moore, Doug Norlen, Payal Sampat, Cairan O’Faircheallaigh, Benjamin Bradshaw, David Chambers, Jaime Kneen, Keith Slack, Lauren Baker, Jerry Jack, Viviane Weitzner, David Szablowski, Robert Shimek

Special thanks to RAIPON and the UNFPII for inviting us to attend