Exchanging Knowledge and Spurring Action for More Responsible Gold

Transforming the artisanal and small-scale gold mining (ASGM) sector has the potential to improve the lives of more than 100 million people, who rely on this industry directly or indirectly for their livelihood. The planetGOLD programme aims to not only improve the production practices and work environment of artisanal and small-scale miners in its project countries, but also to serve as a knowledge sharing platform to disseminate evidence and lessons to the entire global ASGM community.

The flagship knowledge sharing event of the planetGOLD programme is the Global Forum on Artisanal and Small-Scale Gold Mining. This event aims to bring together a wide range of stakeholders engaged in the ASGM sector to inform, educate, and exchange best practices for improving and professionalizing the ASGM sector. 

The 2022 Global Forum on ASGM event was held virtually on April 26-28. Among the 75+ speakers at the Global Forum were representatives from each current planetGOLD country project who presented on various learnings from their work, as well as miner representatives, policy and technical experts, practitioners, governments, donors, and others working in the ASGM space. The event was presented by Abiola Olanipekun, Chief of the Science & Technical Assistance Branch for the Basel, Rotterdam & Stockholm Conventions.

"The results of this program not only benefit individual participating countries but also serve as a laboratory for innovation that can help us upscale these initiatives all over the world," said Carlos Manuel Rodríguez, CEO and Chairperson of the Global Environment Facility, who opened the 2022 Global Forum event.

Monika Stankiewicz, Executive Secretary of the Minamata Convention on Mercury, also provided opening remarks for the event: "I believe this Forum is a shining example of the power of collaboration between the Convention, the Global Mercury Partnership, and the Global Environment Facility. It is through this kind of multi-stakeholder collaboration and information sharing that we can achieve the objective of the Convention, to protect human health and the environment from anthropogenic emissions and releases of mercury."

The planetGOLD programme has four key pillars by which it aims to reduce mercury use in artisanal and small-scale gold mining:

Formalization Supporting efforts to integrate the ASGM sector into the formal economy, society, and regulatory system	Finance Piloting a range of models for access to investment and finance for small-scale miners and their communities
Technical Solutions Introducing and facilitating access to mercury-free technologies and best practices in ASGM	Access to Formal Markets Facilitating miners’ access to formal gold supply chains, in partnership with gold buyers and industrial users

These key pillars were reflected throughout the schedule of 17 sessions for the three-day virtual event. The agenda of the first day largely focused on the pillars of finance and formalization. The second day covered issues on accessing formal markets and technology solutions. The final day touched on topics related to creating an enabling environment for responsible ASGM, including gender mainstreaming, awareness raising, protecting biodiversity, mercury trade, and more. 

To catch up on any sessions you may have missed or want to watch again, view the video recordings from each day of the event.

To find the recording of a particular session, go to the overall recording for that day, look in the video description section, and click on the “chapter” that corresponds to the session of interest.

Separate playlists with video recordings of each session from the 2022 event are available in Spanish and French. Click here to view recordings in Spanish. Click here to view recordings in French.

Presentation materials from every session of the event are also now available to review on the event page, along with background information about the speakers and copies of the agenda in English, French and Spanish. A meeting report and answers to questions that were not addressed during the live event will also be posted shortly on the event page.

Was there a specific session from the 2022 Global Forum on ASGM that you found particularly informative or relevant to your work? Please share your thoughts in the comments section below.