Program

Location: Delta Hotel, 101 Lyon Street North, Ottawa

Wednesday, November 13, 2019

7:00 pm – Documentary film - Private pre-screening of an unreleased Argentinian film on lithium mining boom impacts (RSVP to [email protected]). Seigniory Room, Delta Hotel

Thursday, November 14, 2019

7:00 – Sunrise ceremony with Monique Manatch (Algonquins of Barriere Lake Knowledge Keeper) & Ramona Nicholas (Wolastoqey Nation) – Delta Hotel Penthouse – all welcome!

7:30 – Registration

8:30 – Opening, Territorial Acknowledgement & Welcome Remarks

• Monique Manatch - Algonquins of Barriere Lake Knowledge Keeper, cofounder Indigenous Culture & Media Innovations
• Verna Polson - Grand Chief, Algonquin Anishinabeg Nation Tribal Council 
• Donna Ashamock - Cree Nation, Chair of MiningWatch Canada

9:00 – Keynote: Mark Z. Jacobson, Director, Atmosphere/Energy Program, Stanford University (USA) (by remote)

9:30 – On the Ground: What are the impacts of the increased demand of minerals for renewable energy?

What are the true costs of mining raw metals for the renewable energy transition? How to address the community, social, cultural, health, gender, and environmental impacts? How are governments and industry using the climate imperative to justify mining more ‘energy metals’? Who has interests in different narratives, for whose benefits and what purposes?

Moderator: Joan Kuyek, cofounder of MiningWatch Canada, author of "Unearthing Justice" 

• Pia Marchegiani (FARN, Argentina) & Lucio Cuenca (OLCA, Chile) – Impacts of lithium mining in South America 
• Jonathan Mesulam (West Coast Development Foundation, Papua New Guinea) – Deep sea mining
• Emmanuel Umpula (AFREWatch, Democratic Republic of Congo) – Cobalt mining issues (short video)
• David Pharand (Mayor of Duhamel, Québec) & Louis St-Hilaire (Petite-Nation Lakes Protection Association, Québec) – Graphite mining in Canada   

10:45 – Break

11:15 – Going Deeper: Understanding the trends & predictions of minerals demand for renewable energy

What are the current trends and projection scenarios of metal demands for renewables? What are the key drivers and assumptions behind these scenarios? How do the scenarios change if different assumptions are made? What limiting factors may significantly affect access to raw metals and the outcomes of current predictive models (e.g. resources limits, ecological limits, socio-political limits/conflicts, technological shifts, etc.)? What are the knowledge gaps: What we know, what we don’t know, what we need to know?

Moderator: Geoff McCarney, Research Director, Smart Prosperity Institute

• John Drexhage (Consultant at the World Bank) - The Growing Role Minerals and Metals for a Low Carbon Future
• Elsa Dominish (Institute for Sustainable Futures, Australia) & Payal Sampat (Earthworks, USA) - Minerals Sourcing for Renewable Energy & Making Clean Energy Clean
• Invited respondents: Pablo Heidrich (Carleton University, Global and International Studies Programme), May Dagher & Rodrigue Turgeon (Community members affected by lithium & graphite mining in Canada) 

**5 minute written participatory exercise** 

12:15 – Lunch

1:35 – Keynote: Loretta Williams (Xeni Gwet’in Nation), Chair, First Nations Women Advocating Responsible Mining (Canada)

2:00 – Towards Post-Extractivism: How to reduce or eliminate demand for mining raw minerals?

What is the potential to meet the increased demand with greater efficiency initiatives, such as recycling, reusing, urban mining, circular economy, extended producer responsibility, etc.? Beyond efficiency, is ‘needs-based’ mining possible, how and under what conditions, to meet what (and whose) needs? What metals should be left in the ground as unnecessary to meet climate goals? How can large scale societal choices, such as urban design, transportation modes, energy infrastructures, conservation, and trade help curb both global warming & metal demand? What roles are there for citizens, civil society, industry, governments, and international institutions to drive change?

Moderator: Julie Gelfand, Former federal Commissioner for the Environment & Sustainable Development

• Economist Kate Raworth on (de)Growth (short RSA video on Growth, with permission) - Author of the "Doughnut Economics" of social and planetary boundaries
• Benjamin Hitchcock (War on Want & London Mining Network's report, UK) - A just transition is a post-extractivist transition: what options forward?
• Gavin Mudd (Mineral Policy Institute, Australia) - Mining waste issues & needs-based mining: what minerals to leave in the ground? 
• Josh Lepawsky (Memorial University, Canada) - Electronic waste: what lessons for the renewable energy sector?
• Invited commentators: Cynthia Morinville (University of Toronto, Canada - Metal recycling in West Africa); Christian Simard (Nature Quebec)

3:15 – Break 

3:40 – Towards Post-Extractivism (continued) - Breakout Sessions

Room A (English only) - What is a 'just transition'? Degrowth, wealth redistribution, alternate economies & metal substitutions

Moderator: Jamie Kneen, Communication coordinator, MiningWatch Canada

• Sarah Cornell (Stockholm Resilience Centre, Sweden) - Social development & planetary boundaries: What is a ‘safe operating space for humanity'? (short video)
• Patrick Rondeau (FTQ Québec Labour Federation, Canada) - Opportunities & challenges of Quebec's Just Transition Intersectoral Table
• Leah Temper (McGill University, Canada) - Exploring degrowth at a societal level: between theory & practice
• Sylvain Ménard (Université du Québec à Chicoutimi, Canada) - Substituting metal with wood in construction & infrastructures
• Invited respondents: Dennis Howlett (Global Alliance for Tax Justice), Andrew Linton (Institute of the Environment and Research Fellow at Smart Prosperity Institute)

Room C (En-Fr translation) - Urban infrastructures & transportation: What policies for low carbon/metal solutions?

Moderator: Julie Gelfand, Former Canada's Commissioner for the Environment & Sustainable Development

• François Saunier (CIRAIG, Canada) - Metal circularity opportunities & challenges (lithium, copper, iron)
• Daniel Breton (former environment minister, Quebec) - Are electric cars the solution? What other options are there?
• Jérôme Laviolette (Polytechnique Montreal) - Rethinking urban transportation for low carbon/metal solutions 
• Invited commentators: Stefan Girtler (Propulsion Quebec - Lithium recycling opportunities & challenges); Pia Marchegiani (FARN, Argentina)

5:00 – Reception: MiningWatch Canada’s 20th Anniversary Social (drinks, finger food, speeches) ending at around 7:30pm

Speakers to include MiningWatch founding Board members Alan Young (Minerals Efficiency Research Group) and Julie Gelfand (former federal Commissioner for Environment and Sustainable Development), and others.

Friday, November 15, 2019

8:00 – Registration

8:35 – Welcome Remarks 

8:45 – Keynote: Dianne Saxe, Former Environment Commissioner of Ontario (Canada)

9:15 – Protecting the Planet & Peoples: Is responsible sourcing of minerals for renewable energy possible?

What core conditions, policies, laws, and international instruments need to be implemented to ensure the protection of peoples and the environment affected by the metals’ extraction and lifecycle? How can human rights and Indigenous rights, including the rights to sovereignty, self-determination, and Free, Prior and Informed Consent (FPIC) be upheld? How should ‘no-go zones’  for mining to protect ecologically, socially, and culturally sensitive areas be identified and enforced? How can intergenerational impacts from toxic mine waste disasters and contamination be prevented? What is the role of supply chain controls: laws, voluntary standards, and certification initiatives? What about Indigenous laws, policies and Indigenous-led initiatives?

Moderator: Ian Thomson, Policy Specialist, Extractive Industries, Oxfam Canada

• Clare Church (IISD, Canada) – Green conflict minerals: fuel of conflicts for the transition to a low-carbon transition
• Lucie Chatelain (Sherpa, France) – European human rights due diligence laws for international accountability
• John Cutfeet (Kitchenuhmaykoosib Inninuwug (KI) First Nation) - Indigenous-led protocols and policies to access land & resources
• Invited commentators: Alex Neve (Amnesty International - Ethical Batteries campaign);  Emily Dwyer (CNCA, Canada); Dayna Scott (York Research Chair in Environmental Law & Justice in the Green Economy, Canada)

10:30 – Break

11:00 – Protecting the Planet & Peoples (continued)

Room A (English only) - Between mandatory laws to voluntary standards: What role for supply chain controls? 

Moderator: Catherine Coumans, Research coordinator, MiningWatch Canada

• Carmen Teichgraber (IMPACT, Canada) - Supply chain controls for cobalt artisanal mining in Africa
• Lisa Sumi (IRMA, USA) - Initiative for Responsible Mining Assurance for industrial mining
• Salvador Herencia-Carrasco (Human Rights Research and Education Centre, University of Ottawa, Canada) - Recommendations for Global Affairs and Canadian's foreign policy 
• Invited respondents: Ana Leyva Valera (CooperAcción, Peru), Joan Kuyek (author, "Unearthing Justice"), Emily Norgang (Canadian Labour Congress, Canada) 

Room C (En-Fr translation) - What policy changes needed to respect community rights and control of toxic mine wastes?

Moderator: Ugo Lapointe, Canada program coordinator, MiningWatch Canada

• Sophie Thériault (University of Ottawa, Canada) – Reforming 'free entry' mining laws to protect Indigenous rights
• Judith Marshall (CERLAC, York University, Canada) – Brazilian & Canadian mine waste disasters also rooted in government failures – how to fix this?
• Jim Kuipers (Kuipers Consulting, USA) – Is preventing mine waste disasters & water pollution possible? 
• Invited respondents: Nikki Skuce (B.C. Mining Law Reform Campaign); Ramona Nicholas (Wolastoqey First Nation), Payal Sampat (Earthworks USA) ​

12:15 – Lunch 

1:35 – Roundtable Discussions: Can we mine our way out of the climate crisis? How can we save the climate without wrecking the planet? What priority commitments need to be made in Canada & internationally in the short (now) to mid term (e.g. 2030 to 2050)?

Motivation by Catherine Abreu (Climate Action Network, Canada), Patrick Rondeau (FTQ Québec Labour Federation Union & Just Transition Intersectoral Table), and Eriel Tchekwie Deranger (Indigenous Climate Action, Canada)

Thematic round table discussions organized around two main themes, each with three sub-questions (i.e. six thematic tables in total). The main objective is for participants to share their specific knowledge, expertise, or perspectives on the themes they know best, or feel more comfortable with. Ideas and perspectives will be captured on paper at each table and/or live on an online web platform, and be later shared in a brief conference report. Highlights will also be shared during the final open forum before the conference closure. Each participant is asked to join one thematic table for 40 minutes, and if they wish, pick another table for 40 minutes, or stay at the same table all along.

1. Towards post-extractivism: What priority laws, policies, initiatives are needed at the local, national or international level in the short term (now) to mid term (2030 to 2050)...

1. for greater mineral efficiency, recycling, and circular economy of metals for renewables?

2. to favour needs-based mining and ‘greener’ substitutes to some metals (which metals)?

3. to move towards system change, de-growth, and alternate local and/or global economies?

2.Responsible sourcing: What priority laws, policies, initiatives are needed at the local, national or international level in the short (now) to mid term(2030 to 2050)...

4. to uphold human rights and Indigenous rights, including the rights to sovereignty, self-determination, and Free, Prior, Informed Consent (FPIC)?

5. to identify and enforce ‘no-go zones’ for mining to protect ecologically, socially, culturally sensitive areas?

6. to prevent perpetual & intergenerational impacts from toxic mine wastes disasters and contamination (water, air, land, health)?

3:15 – Break

3:30 – Report-back from roundtable discussions

• Jamie Kneen (English) & Ugo Lapointe (French) - MiningWatch Canada

4:00 – Closing remarks

• Donna Ashamock - Cree Nation, Chair of MiningWatch Canada
• Monique Manatch - Algonquins of Barriere Lake Knowledge Keeper, cofounder Indigenous Culture & Media Innovations

Post-Conference Event – Book Launch: "Unearthing Justice"
Author and co-founder of MiningWatch Canada Joan Kuyek in conversation with MiningWatch's Jamie Kneen
UPDATE: Eriel Tchekwie Deranger, Denesṷłine (Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation), Executive Director of Indigenous Climate Action, has just confirmed that she will speak at this event!

7:00-9:00 pm
The Social Innovation Atelier, St. Paul University
95 Clegg St. at Main St., Ottawa
Bus routes #5, #16, #55