Peru: Resolution through Preventative Dialogue in Mining

November 23, 2021

What is the reason for the increase in social conflict around mining activity in Peru? Why are we again having to ask this question? Have we not suffered major social conflicts in the past, which have affected the development of mining projects, as well as caused serious complications in mining communities? Or is it that, when the new governments are elected, they believe it cannot happen to them?

According to the Ombudsman's Office, the Presidency of the Council of Ministers (PCM), and the Ministry of Energy and Mines (MINEM), claims had already been registered in the areas of Apumayo and Antamina months ago, yet unfortunately, the change of government has weakened prevention and monitoring activity, allowing protests to reach a scale that no one wanted.

This confirms that all actors must bet on preventative dialogue in good faith, and seek conclusions with commitments that are periodically reviewed. Dialogue is thought to be valid only for medium and long-term issues, and it is forgotten that by having a dialogue in good faith, the necessary environment can be generated to resolve the concerns, fears and doubts generated by mining activity in the short term.

For all these reasons, we must seek the resumption of the preventive dialogues that are carried out in the Mining and Energy Management Committees of MINEM, and the multi-stakeholder dialogue space of the Mining and Energy Convergence Center (Rimay), where dialogue is being pursued by representatives of civil society, mining companies, academia and national authorities through the "Vision of Mining to 2030."  Such efforts will enable the development of the sector policy in Peru, which must be focused on the promotion of sustainable mining, and with purpose.