This week, HCSS strategic analyst Irina Patrahau attended the 7th edition of the Paris Peace Forum, at the historic Palais de Chaillot. HCSS is proud to be an academic partner of the Paris Peace Forum. This year’s theme, “Wanted: A Functioning Global Order“, addressed the urgent need for effective international governance in a world marked by great power rivalries, global instability, North-South distrust and new transnational challenges.
Irina also attended thematic side events by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), on ‘Conflict at the Front Lines of Transition Minerals’, exploring systemic inequalities in the global energy transition, and ‘Conflict transformation and the role of responsible artisanal and small-scale mining’, which explores the feasibility of operationalizing the linkages between two fields, i) responsible mining practices through due diligence in global supply chains and ii) disarmament, demobilization and reintegration (DDR) of ex-combatants from armed groups in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo as well as related community violence reduction (CVR) programming.
Looking back at the interesting debates on the climate and energy front, Irina noted that the main topic of discussion was the responsible sourcing of critical raw materials, when it comes to benefit sharing with mineral rich countries, but also to mitigating conflict risk in relation to both large-scale and artisanal mining.
“There is a lot of political discourse in Europe agreeing with this, but we are yet to see concrete results.”
Strategic analyst Irina Patrahau
“With today’s rush for critical minerals, there is a risk of fast-tracking mining projects in developing and emerging economies without accounting for benefit sharing and mitigating negative consequences,” Irina noted.
“A lot of resource rich countries are also highly exposed to climate risks and have weak governance structures, so developing integrated plans together with local and national stakeholders is key. There is a lot of political discourse in Europe agreeing with this, but we are yet to see concrete results.”
About the Paris Peace Forum
Every year, the Paris Peace Forum’s annual event convenes heads of state, leaders of international organizations and companies, and civil society organizations from all corners of the world to improve global governance and find solutions to global crises before conflicts erupt — a tall order in today’s dysfunctional global order.
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