Barbara Strozzilaan 336
1083 HN Amsterdam
The Netherlands
gssbsecretariat@globalreporting.org

Item 03 – GRI Sector Standards
Project for Mining – Working group
terms of reference
For GSSB approval
Date

3 June 2021

Meeting

17 June 2021

Project

GRI Sector Standards Project for Mining

Description

This document sets out the terms of reference for the Working Group for the GRISector Standards Project for Mining.
Where there is content that needs to be added or confirmed at thecommencement of the project, it is highlighted in yellow.

This document has been prepared by the GRI Standards Division and is made available to observers
at meetings of the Global Sustainability Standards Board (GSSB). It does not represent an official
position of the GSSB. Board positions are set out in the GRI Sustainability Reporting Standards. TheGSSB is the independent standard setting body of GRI. For more information visit
www.globalreporting.org.

© GRI 2021

1ContentsTerms of Reference ................................................................................................................................ 3
Background ......................................................................................................................................... 3
Mandate of the Mining Working Group ................................................................................................ 3
Scope of work .................................................................................................................................. 3
Responsibilities of other entities ...................................................................................................... 4
Additional considerations ................................................................................................................. 4
Composition of the Mining Working Group .......................................................................................... 5
Selection criteria .............................................................................................................................. 5
Working Group commitments .............................................................................................................. 5
Public communications protocol .......................................................................................................... 6
How to apply ........................................................................................................................................ 6Appendix 1. Meeting schedule ............................................................................................................ 7Contact
Email: mining@globalreporting.org
For more information: visit the [project webpage] and sign up here to receive regular updates.

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2Terms of Reference

345

These Terms of Reference outline the mandate of the Working Group for the GRI Sector Standards
Project for Mining (Mining Working Group), including its selection and appointment, primary objectives
and time commitments.

6Background789The Global Sustainability Standards Board (GSSB), GRI’s independent standard-setting body, has
identified the mining sector as a priority sector for developing a GRI Sector Standards (SectorStandards).

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The objective of sustainability reporting using the GRI Standards is to provide transparency on how
an organization contributes or aims to contribute to sustainable development. The GRI Standards
enable an organization to publicly disclose its most significant impacts on the economy, environment,and people, including impacts on human rights, and how the organization manages these impacts.

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Sector Standards provide information for organizations in a given sector about their likely material
topics. Sector Standards also contains a list of disclosures for organizations in the sector to report
information about their impacts in relation to each likely material topic. They are designed to enhance
the global comparability and quality of information within a sector, thereby enabling greatertransparency and accountability of organizations, and informed decision-making by stakeholders.

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The primary objective of GRI Sector Standards Project for Mining is to develop a Sector Standard thatimproves the sustainability reporting of mining organizations, making reporting more complete andconsistent across the sector. It will be carried out following the GSSB Due Process Protocol.

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See the [project proposal] for more information.

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Mandate of the Mining Working Group

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Sector Standards are developed using multi-stakeholder expertise, authoritative intergovernmentalinstruments, and other relevant evidence. The Mining Working Group is to contribute their expertise to
the development of a Sector Standard for Mining. The overall work of the Mining Working Groupshould support sustainability reporting as promoted by the GRI Sustainability Reporting Standards(GRI Standards).

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Scope of work

303132The Mining Working Group will be responsible for developing a Sector Standard for the mining sector,
for the consideration of the GSSB. Within the context of the GRI Sector Program, the mining sector isdefined as described in the [project proposal].

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The Mining Working Group will be tasked with providing recommendations on:

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The context of the mining sector in relation to sustainable development, including relevant
Sustainable Development Goals and international instruments and agreements.

3637•The likely material topics for organizations in the mining sector, based on the sector’ssignificant impacts on the environment, economy and people, including human rights;

38•The description of these impacts and authoritative references that evidence these impacts;

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The disclosures from GRI Topic Standards that are relevant for organizations from the miningsector to report on each likely material topic;

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Additional reporting that is recommended for disclosure by organizations in the mining sector.
Additional sector reporting is only included when the Topic Standards do not providedisclosures that sufficiently reflect the impacts associated with the sector.

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45

The Mining Work Group may also provide recommendations on:

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The scope, key and name of the Sector Standard;

47•Considerations that may be relevant to Sector Standards for related sectors;

48•Revisions or updates to other GRI Standards.

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Impacts identified within this project for which no GRI Standard exists will be assessed and prioritizedby the GSSB for future GRI Standards development.

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Responsibilities of other entities

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The Standards Division is responsible for:•Overall project management and ensuring compliance with the GSSB Due Process Protocol;•Facilitating, providing logistical support and preparing materials for Working Group meetings;•Maintaining an online collaboration platform for the Working Group;•Engaging with the GSSB and other GRI Governance bodies;•Engaging other experts and interested parties in a peer review and on an as needed basis;•Coordinating public exposure of the draft Sector Standard, including collecting andsummarizing feedback for consideration by the Working Group;•Undertaking research to support the development of the Sector Standard; and•Drafting the content of the Sector Standard.

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The Standards Division will draft the Sector Standard and other relevant deliverables in accordancewith the recommendations of the Working Group. The content of the Sector Standard will be drafted inaccordance with template and house rules for terminology, style and presentation. The Working
Group will not be responsible for editing the stylistic and grammatical presentation of deliverables.
Such edits will be undertaken by the Standards Division to ensure consistency with existing GRI
documents.

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The GSSB votes on the approval of a draft of the Sector Standard for public exposure and the finalcontent of a Sector Standard. The GSSB will review the drafted contents and may ask the Mining
Working Group to conduct further research and/or develop the draft recommendations further.
Working group members should be committed to support the revision of draft contents in addition tothe development of these contents. Further information on the role and authority of the GSSB can befound in the GSSB Due Process Protocol.

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Additional considerations

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The development of the Sector Standard is to be carried out within the existing structure and templateof the GRI Standards, including preserving the hierarchy, coherence and implementation approach ofthe GRI Standards. The content of Sector Standards must be in line with the in accordance model
outlined in [GRI 1: Foundation 2021].

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The Mining Working Group should aim to develop topic descriptions that are clear, consistent, andfocused on impacts from a sustainable development perspective. Content should also seek to be inline with key authoritative inter-governmental instruments (such as instruments of the United Nations,the International Labour Organization, and the OECD) and consider the content of other business andhuman rights reporting frameworks, such as the UN Guiding Principles Reporting Framework.

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The discussions of the Working Group are confidential but any recommendations made by theWorking Group to the GSSB will be publicly available in accordance with the GSSB Due ProcessProtocol.

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GRI will hold the copyright of any deliverables associated with the project.

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Composition of the Mining Working Group

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It is anticipated that the Working Group will have up to 15 members. The Working Group will aim tohave at least one person drawn from each of the constituencies on which the membership of theGSSB is based: business enterprises, investment institutions, labor, civil society, and mediatinginstitutions.

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In addition, geographical, gender and cultural diversity will be considered. There can only be one
representative per organization in the Working Group.

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Table 1: Descriptions of constituencies represented on the Working Groupa) An enterprise (other than a mediating or investment institution) that has
Businessbeen established in order to generate a profit for the benefit of its
enterpriseinvestors or owners; orb) An organization representing the collective interests of those falling into
category ‘a’.
Investment
institution

An enterprise that is primarily concerned with the direct or indirect, long-term
investment of funds in business – including, but not limited to, asset owners,
asset managers, development banks, exchanges, ratings agencies andmarket information brokers.

Labor

An organization established independently of employers and governments torepresent the interests of workers.

Civil society

An organization established in order to promote or secure a public good
relating to sustainability (environmental, social and governance) and that
does not fall into any of the categories defined above.

Mediatinginstitution

An individual or organization that provides goods and/or services associatedwith the reporting process and derives benefit from doing so.

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A GSSB sponsor(s) may join Working Group meetings.

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Selection criteria

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In accordance with the GSSB Due Process Protocol, members of the Working Group are appointed
by the GSSB. The principal criterion for selecting the Working Group is relevant knowledge andexperience of a broad range of sustainable development issues for the mining sector.

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Members must be able to ability to participate in Working Group meetings held in English and provide
written English feedback when requested.

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In addition, the following criteria will be considered:95•

relevant knowledge of sustainability reporting for the sector;

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familiarity with the needs of users of sustainability reports;

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related experience with multi-stakeholder initiatives;

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understanding of and willingness to work in a consensus-based, multi-stakeholder working
group.

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Working Group commitments

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Working Group members are expected to:

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act in an individual capacity, exclusively in the public interest, and according to due process
as defined in the GSSB Due Process Protocol;

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review the materials provided by the Standards Division in advance of Working Group
meetings, in order to be able to actively participate;

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provide timely feedback on documents or other materials distributed by the Standards
Division;

108•work in the manner that aims at achieving consensus.

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The development of the Sector Standard for Mining is expected to take up to 20 months following theappointment of the Working Group. See the timeline included in the [project proposal].

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Working Group members commit to attending approximately 25 hours of meetings and reviewing thedraft Sector Standard a minimum of three times during that period. Working Group members also
commit to plan sufficient time to prepare for meetings, review other materials and engage insupplementary content creation methods. It is estimated that this may result in up to 50 hours of timecommitment across the project (excluding any necessary travel time).

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Meetings and other engagement methods will vary depending on the needs of the Working Group andthe project. Commonly used methods include full group meetings in-person and virtually, sub-group
workshops, and use of digital content creation platforms. The use of these methods will also take into
account any travel restrictions or risk factors related to Covid-19.

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Virtual meetings are normally held between 1.00-2:30 pm Central European Time (CET), so thatmembers in most time zones can join. This will be adjusted based on the final geographicalrepresentation of the Working Group.

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In the event of an in-person meeting, Working Group members will be asked to attend a two-daymeeting in Amsterdam (excluding travel time).

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See appendix 1 for the proposed meeting schedule and an itemized time commitment.

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Working Group members volunteer their time. There is no fee or compensation associated withparticipation in the Working Group. Upon request, Working Group members will be eligible for travel
and accommodation reimbursement for in-person meetings, in accordance with GRI policies.

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Public communications protocol

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Public communication on issues related to the activities of the Working Group and the development ofthe GRI Standards is the responsibility of the GSSB. Working Group members may publicly express
their personal opinions and views but may not speak on behalf of the Working Group, GSSB or GRI.

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The names and bios of members will be published on the GRI website. Members are welcome topublicize their participation in, and the activities of the Working Group, in channels such as press
releases or on social media. Members are asked to work with the Standards Division or GRI’s
communication team to coordinate any such activity ahead of time.

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Working Group members are advised to use the following when referring to their participation in thisprocess:

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“[name of member] has been appointed by the Global Sustainability Standards Board (GSSB), GRI’s
independent standard setting body, to serve on a Working Group to produce a Standard for themining sector.”

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How to apply

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Once the open call is launched, all interested experts will be able to nominate themselves to be partof the Mining Working Group, by submitting their CV and the application form to[mining@globalreporting.org].

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Appendix 1. Meeting schedule

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[To be completed prior to Working Group recruitment: the proposed schedule of meetings will be
determined based on the timing of the commencement of the project, the travel limitations anticipatedat that time, and the outcomes of the pilot projects.]

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