Do no harm? Mining industry responses to the responsibility to respect human rights

This article examines responses of mining industry associations and companies to increasing pressure on the sector to ensure that its activities respect human rights, defined as do no harm. Examples illuminate key moments in an evolving industry response starting in the mid-2000s with scepticism that human rights should, or could, provide operationalisable standards for the sector, to subsumption of human rights under voluntary corporate social responsibility approaches already practised by the industry. Also examined is the strategic use by mining companies of emerging human rights tools such as Human Rights Impact Assessment and Operational-Level Grievance Mechanisms.