The Intergovernmental Forum on Mining, Minerals, Metals and Sustainable Development (IGF)
members decided at the October 2017 Annual General Meeting to develop a new guidance document on the legal framework for environmental and social impact assessment (ESIA) and related plans in the context of granting permits and negotiating mining contracts. The IGF members selected this topic based on their awareness of the challenges in assessing and managing environmental and social impacts and their insights that improving ESIA and related management plans is a critical
component of optimizing sustainable development benefits of the minerals sector. The purpose of this document is to provide IGF member states with a summary of good international
practice in legal frameworks for ESIA and related management plans for large-scale mines. Examples, strategies, and tools are included to aid in evaluating and improving legal frameworks and environmental and social aspects of resource governance. While professional organizations have
published technical guides on ESIA, guidance on law and policy frameworks for ESIA and related
management plans are largely lacking in the literature. This guidance document aims to fill this gap for governments and other stakeholders who would like to improve their legal frameworks and management of environmental and social impacts in their mining sectors.