Sustainable Development Goals, Risk Management and Mining Conflicts:

PAUL CISNEROS; CHRISTEL, LUCAS G.

Barcelona

Conferencia; 5th International Conference on Public Policy (ICPP5); 2021

IPPA

AbstractThe adoption of the SDGs in 2015 open a new discursive space that puts a great emphasis oninstitutions that integrate sectors, levels of government and actors. In principle, thisintegration offers possibilities for improving existing policy tools for the management ofsocio-environmental risk. In this paper, we explore the extent to which the new internationaldevelopment agenda contained in the SGDs and national and subnational regulations as wellas soft voluntary regulations are influencing the structure of disputes related to large-scalemining projects. To do so, we employ a comparative study of cases in Argentina and Ecuador.We explore how several institutional rigidities are reducing the integrative force of the SDGsto the point where disputes about risks related to mining are deepening the polarizationbetween actors and eroding the legitimacy of institutions. The analysis of the cases relies onthe systematic review of official documents, media content and secondary literature.The Ecuadorean case covers the path that led to a referendum to prevent mining concessionsto develop into projects in water catchment areas in the municipality of Cuenca. The processwas characterized by disputes over the potential negative impacts of mining over wateravailability and quality. Despite the adoption of an integrative SDG narrative by the actorsinvolved, mainly the mining company, fundamental differences remain in the way theyunderstand risk and therefore the institutional tools they mobilize to manage it. TheArgentinean case explores the mining conflict in the Mendoza province. This experienceshows how an uneven adoption of SDG narrative hinders its potentiality as a common frameto harmonize divergent perspective of mining risk. These reduce the effectiveness of anyinstitutional efforts for public discussion ?like the ?Space for Mining Dialog for a SustainableDevelopment? and reinforce the contentious character of the conflict.