Assessing the Rule of Law in Public Administration: the Mining Sector

More than three years after the adoption of the SDGs, the world faces several troubling and mutually reinforcing trends: loss of biodiversity and ecosystem services, climate change and rising inequality, conflict and fragility. Underpinning these linked trends are patterns of unsustainable management of natural resources, including the mining sector.

With this Users’ Guide, the Folke Bernadotte Academy, the Swedish Environmental Protection Agency and the United Nations Development Programme hope to make a valuable contribution to the existing landscape of mining sector assessments.

This self-assessment, and the six principles of the rule of law on which it is based, will enable affected communities and civil servants to identify and address key procedural rights and justice issues involving the environmental governance of the mining sector. In this way, governments, communities and other stakeholders can mitigate the risk of socio-environmental conflict and help advance sustainable development.