High-level representatives of all five Energy Resource Governance Initiative (ERGI) partner countries held a multi-national video conference to renew their commitment to this critical minerals initiative at its one-year anniversary mark. Leading the United States Department of State's Bureau of Energy Resources (ENR), Assistant Secretary of State Francis Fannon convened: Canada's Associate Deputy Minister of Natural Resources Shawn Tupper, Botswana's Permanent Secretary of Mining Mmetla Masire, along with Peru's Vice Minister of Mining Augusto Cauti, and Australia's Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade Deputy Secretary Christopher Langman.
The partners unanimously reaffirmed their shared interest in using ERGI to promote sound energy mineral extractives governance, diverse and resilient supply chains, and respect for environmental stewardship and human rights. They highlighted key events since ERGI's founding, including: a high-level ministerial at the 74th United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) with U.S. Secretary of State Michael Pompeo, a Memorandum of Understanding outlining ERGI principles, and www.ERGI.tools, an online capacity-building toolkit introduced at an ERGI ministers' meeting at the March 2020 Prospectors and Developers Association Conference (PDAC) in Toronto, Canada. The toolkit operationalizes best practices in extractives governance as outlined by the partners' shared experiences and case studies.
Assistant Secretary Fannon also reaffirmed the United States International Development Finance Corporation (DFC) as a critical and powerful tool to mobilize U.S. government financing and catalyze private sector capital towards advancing countries' development, including in the energy minerals sector. The DFC will give priority treatment to countries that adhere to the shared principles agreed upon by the founding partners as outlined in ERGI.
