Office of the Spokesperson
The Bureau of Energy Resources and the Intergovernmental Forum on Mining (IGF) co-hosted a convening meeting of the Energy Resource Governance Initiative (ERGI) in a virtual format on October 28 to highlight resources committed to the initiative, as well as to create a dialogue around current and future objectives. Assistant Secretary of State for Energy Resources Francis Fannon was joined by representatives of the Founding Partners of ERGI: Australia, Botswana, Canada and Peru; senior representatives from fifteen additional countries also joined, including Argentina, Brazil, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chile, Colombia, Democratic Republic of Congo, Ecuador, Japan, the Republic of Korea, Norway, the Philippines, South Africa, Sweden, and Zambia; and the European Commission.
The discussion reinforced the importance of resilient, diverse, and soundly-governed critical energy mineral supply chains. ERGI focuses on the minerals and metals that make advanced batteries and renewable energy technologies possible and promotes mining that adheres to labor laws, respects the environment, and benefits host countries and their citizens. The ERGI Toolkit (www.ERGI.tools) has been expanded and is a resource for countries that want to move toward better mining practices, providing excellent case studies of how mining is done well in diverse contexts. Technical assistance to support ERGI has also been expanded and the United States has allocated approximately $10.5 million since October 2019 to advance ERGI’s goals and help countries manage their mining sectors more soundly. This Fall Convening Meeting of ERGI is an example of the growing call for secure supply chains, and underscores the meaningful impact of a diverse coalition of nations to embrace best practices and the promise of ERGI’s continuing efforts.
For further information, contact Donald Kilburg, Spokesperson for the Bureau of Energy Resources, at KilburgDF@america.gov or visit www.state.gov/e/enr. Additional information is available on Twitter at @EnergyAtState.