By Catherine Wilson
LONDON, Mar 17 2025 – Local communities are finally witnessing progress in their mission for justice, 36 years after the Panguna copper mine in Papua New Guinea’s Autonomous Region of Bougainville became the centre of landowner grievances about environmental damage.

The release of the first independent environmental and social impact assessment of the mine, once one of the world’s largest, has also raised local expectations of the former majority owner, Rio Tinto, paying for remediation works.

“This is a significant milestone for Bougainville, one that helps us move away from the damage and turmoil of the past and strengthen our pathway towards a stronger future,” Bougainville’s President, Ishmael Toroama, said in a public statement in December 2024.

“This process has been based on dialogue, empathy and cooperation; now we look forward to continued cooperation and tangible action to addressing the impacts,” Blaise Iruinu, Paramount Chief of the local Barapang clan and member of the impact investigation oversight committee, told local media.

In the mid-twentieth century, the islands of Bougainville and eastern New Guinea were administered by Australia under a United Nations mandate to prepare them for self-government. And the Panguna mine was developed as a major revenue stream to economically support the new state of Papua New Guinea (PNG), which was established in 1975. Affected landowners were not widely consulted on the building of the mine, and many were opposed to it.

A recently released environmental and social impact assessment report on the current state of the Panguna mine identified ageing and disintegrating mine infrastructure as a threat to the safety of people living in surrounding communities. Autonomous Region of Bougainville, PNG. Credit: HRLC

It was then operated by Rio Tinto’s subsidiary, Bougainville Copper Ltd (BCL), from 1972 until the outbreak of a civil war forced its closure, without decommissioning, in 1989. The conflict began with a landowner-led uprising after a breakdown in discussions with the company about their allegations of environmental damage and economic inequity in the distribution of the mine’s benefits.

While there was no legal requirement at the time for mining companies to do impact assessments, Rio Tinto signed two Disposal of Tailings Agreements in 1971 and 1987. In these, the company agreed to take measures to protect and remediate land affected by mine waste, but they were not effectively implemented. The mine generated 150,000 tonnes of tailings waste per day, which grew to a total of about 1 billion tonnes during the mine’s life.

Mine waste generated during the extractive operations at the Panguna copper mine has contaminated rivers and waterways used by local communities. Autonomous Region of Bougainville, PNG. Credit: HRLC

In 2016, Rio Tinto divested its interests in the abandoned mine, at the same time rejecting any responsibility for environmental issues. Islanders never accepted this, and in 2020, 156 local residents submitted a human rights complaint, assisted by the Melbourne-based Human Rights Law Centre, to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) contact in Australia. They claimed that Rio Tinto had failed to meet its corporate responsibility obligations as defined in the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises.

Today more than 25,000 people live in the mine’s vicinity. And an initial report by the Human Rights Law Centre on how their lives have been affected described the contamination of water sources and food crops, poor relocation and displacement of villagers and a range of illnesses and health issues. Copper “is highly toxic to fish, plants and other aquatic life and can be dangerous to human health in higher concentrations,” states the 2020 report, After the Mine.

After mediated discussions with the complainants and the PNG and Bougainville Governments, the mining multinational agreed to fund an independent impact study which began in 2022.

The Phase 1 Impact Assessment report, prepared by the Australian engineering consultancy, Tetra Tech Coffey, was publicly released in December 2024. It found that the collapsing mine pit and disintegrating infrastructure pose imminent harm to people living nearby, and mine waste has contaminated land, food gardening areas and water resources, including the main Jaba-Kawerong River. There is also the presence of toxic chemicals in the soil of some areas, while toxic substances kept in ageing storage conditions are becoming increasingly unstable.

“We never chose this mine, but we live with its consequences every day, trying to find ways to survive in the wasteland that has been left behind. The legacy impact assessment has, for the first time, given us data and laid a foundation for solutions,” Theonila Roka Matbob, the lead complainant, stated on December 6, 2024.

The report concludes that the Panguna mine’s unaddressed legacy has undermined the Bougainville Islanders’ human rights to life, health, water, adequate food, housing and a clean environment.

Responding to the report, Kellie Parker, Chief Executive of Rio Tinto Australia, said, “Our focus in Bougainville is on meaningful engagement and long-term solutions.” The multinational has formed a roundtable discussion group with the Bougainville Government and BCL to agree the next steps. “We will work with the roundtable parties and consult with local communities on a response plan to address identified impacts,” Parker continued, claiming that the company had a ‘genuine commitment to working respectfully and collaboratively on this important issue.’

Keren Adams, Legal Director at the Human Rights Law Centre, told IPS that Rio Tinto should take immediate action to rectify the most urgent risks to local communities, “such as ensuring that communities have access to safe water supplies, building bridges so communities can safely cross the Kawerong River and stabilising collapsing levees and infrastructure.” In August last year, Rio Tinto agreed to start working immediately on a number of critically unstable mine sites where there are imminent dangers to the wellbeing of communities.

The timeline and costing of the full remediation are still being determined. “While the report has identified which impacts need to be remedied, there is still a further piece of work that needs to be undertaken investigating the options for how that occurs, so that these options can then be costed and planned,” Adams said.

Mine buildings and machinery, damaged during the Bougainville civil war, have been disintegrating for 35 years since the Panguna mine was abandoned in 1989. Autonomous Region of Bougainville, PNG. Credit: HRLC

However, Professor Peter Erskine, Director of the Centre for Mined Land Rehabilitation at Australia’s University of Queensland, told IPS, “If a sustainable cleanup and rehabilitation of the site were to be conducted in line with best practice, it would require the consent and collaboration of the landowners and would take more than a decade,” and, he added, cost billions of dollars. BCL has estimated that rehabilitation would require an investment of USD 5 billion, which amounts to more than twice the revenue, totalling USD 2 billion, of the mine during its years of operation.

The cleanup is also a priority, as the Bougainville Government is planning to reopen the mine to fund its own aspiration of nationhood. The remote group of islands in the far eastern region of PNG, which has long campaigned for self-governance, held a referendum on its future political status in December 2019, with a majority, 97.7 percent of voters, electing for Independence. Currently there is no other major developed economic sector, and the Panguna mine is perceived as the only viable means of making nationhood a fiscal reality.

BCL, now majority owned by local stakeholders, has had its exploration licence in Panguna renewed. And, in November, landowners signed a land access agreement with the company. BCL’s Executive Chairman, Mel Togolo, who claims that the mine will generate USD 36 billion in revenues during its second planned life, believes it will feed a high world demand for copper, a key material used by the renewable energy industry.

The task of transforming the Panguna mine from its ruined state is a massive one, and Bougainville’s leaders and its people are keen for action by Rio Tinto. “Rio Tinto has not yet committed to funding either the solutions or the cleanup which communities are calling for. The Human Rights Law Centre will continue working with communities to ensure Rio Tinto takes responsibility for its legacy,” Adams emphasised.

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By Daniela Iller and Yvonne Bartmann
BRUSSELS/ GENEVA, Mar 17 2025 – Winds are also changing in trade policy. As they get rougher and more unpredictable, the much-criticised multilateral trade regime of the World Trade Organization (WTO) has so far proved surprisingly resilient. Paradoxically, Donald Trump’s tariff policy could actually strengthen the WTO.

The new US administration is lashing out at dizzying speed, including in trade policy. The US President has already imposed 20 per cent tariffs on Chinese goods, while tariffs on certain goods from Mexico and Canada have been delayed until April. The EU has been hit with tariffs on aluminium and steel products.

According to calculations, these measures would bring US tariffs to their highest level since 1969. The affected trading partners have already announced countermeasures and want to impose tariffs on US imports reciprocally.

The US government uses tariffs as a catch-all tool to quickly solve economic problems or pursue geo-economic goals. At the same time, tariffs are a legitimate means of trade defence for WTO members. Therefore, the US-led argument of national security would also be covered by the WTO in principle.

Nevertheless, in this specific case, the WTO dispute settlement body ruled that tariffs of this kind, imposed under Trump 1.0, are in fact illegal. Nothing would change if he tried it again. The US has appealed these rulings – a contradictory behaviour, given that at the same time it has been blocking the regular reappointment of the responsible WTO Appellate Body for years.

Let’s be clear: the US is undermining the WTO by paralysing its court of appeal, but justifying its non-compliant action with a legitimate WTO argument – that of national security.

Beggar thy neighbor

This behaviour is contradictory: on the one hand, the US is not accepting current WTO law and is dissatisfied with parts of the trade system. But also, still adhering to the WTO system. On the other hand, its announcement that it will impose so-called reciprocal tariffs from April suggests that the US has little interest in the multilateral trade order – and may even be deliberately seeking to destroy it.

These reciprocal tariffs would be raised wherever the US currently demands lower levies than its trading partners. This would undermine the most-favoured-nation clause, which declares that a state must grant each trading partner the same advantages as those already granted to another state.

This would be a clear violation of fundamental WTO rules – and a return to the beggar thy neighbour policy, in which a country tries to strengthen its own economy at the expense of others.

Washington’s tariff threats have not gone unanswered. While smaller countries like Colombia have quickly given in, waiting is not an option for larger economic powers – especially not for the G20 countries, which do not want to appear incapable of action. As a result, affected trading partners have announced countermeasures and are imposing tariffs on US imports.

China, for example, has been levying tariffs of 15 per cent on coal and liquefied gas and 10 per cent on oil since 10 February. Further levies on certain agricultural products are to follow.

The EU will impose swift countermeasures. However, it is difficult to say how far these will go, given the rekindled love between Trump and Putin. Trade Commissioner Šefčovič has already travelled to Washington to sound out possible deals.

Even before Trump took office, the EU Commission had emphasised the importance of transatlantic economic relations and that it would remain open to negotiations.

The EU is doing everything it can to prevent a further escalation of the trade conflict. Diplomatic solutions have proven their worth and are the preferred means of WTO members in the event of disputes. Nevertheless, the EU is making clear that it will react with counter-tariffs if necessary.

For the first time, its so-called Anti-Coercion instrument – a protective instrument against economic coercion by third countries could also be used. However, the EU’s primary objective remains to avoid escalation and to act within the framework of WTO rules. The reaction of the EU’s trading partners to the Trump administration’s latest measures is in line with the words of WTO Secretary-General Okonjo-Iweala: ‘The WTO was created precisely for times like these – to provide a space for dialogue, contain conflict and support an open, predictable trading environment.’

The WTO’s multilateral rules remain a central point of reference, especially for the US’ trading partners. This is a good sign for anyone who believes in rules-based international cooperation.

The future of the WTO

But what if the US does withdraw from the WTO? Trump has not yet announced this step, but his unpredictability remains a risk. Such a withdrawal would set an unprecedented instance and would have significant consequences for the global trading system.

No country has ever left the WTO – and the US plays a central role as a trading partner for many countries. If it does happen, the US would have to negotiate bilateral trade agreements with over 165 countries – and that with a shrunken government apparatus.

This would be an enormous administrative task that would create considerable uncertainty for the global economy.

Trump’s tariff bat could therefore have the opposite effect and lead many countries back to multilateralism. The WTO still offers an attractive set of rules that significantly facilitates international trade through transparency, reliability and competition rules. These advantages are often overlooked, despite justified criticism of the organization.

It is therefore unlikely that the WTO will immediately erode, especially since there are no institutional alternatives. Moreover, almost all existing trade agreements are based on WTO law. Although there are other notorious obstructionists besides the US, such as India, the WTO remains an indispensable framework despite its weaknesses.

Ultimately, the WTO’s customs system alone, as the smallest common denominator, continues to offer great advantages for its members. For many states, it may be more attractive to push for reforms within the system than to expose themselves to the chaos of unregulated trade relations.

And what about the rest of the world? Though they form a rather heterogenous group, every state is closely monitoring current developments. It is to be expected that regional trade alliances such as the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), the Asian trade regime ASEAN or supra-regional agreements such as the EU-Mercosur partnership will gain in geopolitical importance.

And let’s not forget: the European single market remains the most successful regional trade regime in the world – a model that could serve as an example for other regions.

Regardless of how the EU responds to the US tariffs, it should use its strategic, economic and political resources in a targeted manner. The aim should be to bring together like-minded partners worldwide and to jointly advocate for a reformed multilateral trading system.

The WTO already offers concrete opportunities for this. For example, the EU could gain influence if it took a clear position on the future of agricultural policy. Determined support in this area would send a strong signal of partnership to African countries – those that have put this issue on the WTO agenda.

As the Director-General of the UN Trade and Development (UNCTAD), Rebecca Grynspan, emphasized at a recent G20 meeting: ‘We believe in a world with better rules, not a world without rules.’ If the EU and the vast majority of the 166 WTO member states remain true to this principle, they will send a clear signal to those who, in their ‘me first’ thinking, have lost sight of the bigger picture.

Not the right of the strong, but the strength of the law must prevail in the political arena – this applies particularly to trade policy. It is now up to the majority of WTO member states to ensure that this principle is upheld

Daniela Iller is in charge of Trade & Development Policy at the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung EU Office, and studied Political Science at the University of Leipzig, Science Po Lyon and the Free University of Berlin.

Source: International Politics and Society (IPS), FES, Brussels

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By Tais Siqueira
SORIA, Spain, Mar 17 2025 – The slashing of US aid funding by Donald Trump and Elon Musk, and cuts or planned cuts in international support by several European states, threaten to cut off the oxygen supply to a civil society already in a critical condition. At CIVICUS, the global civil society alliance, activists and grassroots groups have shared with us time and again that shifting and volatile donor priorities are one of the top funding challenges they face, alongside limited resources for strategy and restricted funding.

Tais Siqueira

Local civil society in the global south is most affected by these challenges. Funding disruptions are no temporary matter. They reflect systemic failures and deep power and funding inequalities between the global north and global south. They undermine trust, shift power away from the communities most affected by global challenges and force local organisations into a reactive survival mode rather than enabling them to drive strategic action.

This is a critical moment for philanthropy to step up and put locally led development principles into practice. This means channelling more resources directly to local civil society, advocating for the meaningful participation of a diverse local civil society in policy spaces at all levels, ensuring their financial, legal and security resilience, and reimagining the role of philanthropy as being not just a funder, but an investor, catalyser and collaborator. As a starting point, philanthropic funders should do the following.

1. Commit to immediate, flexible, and sustained financial support

Local civil society is on the frontlines of addressing some of the world’s most pressing issues. Yet it’s often the first to feel the impact of funding disruptions. Philanthropy must act quickly to provide immediate, flexible and emergency grants to help local organisations survive funding gaps, including by increasing flexibility in existing grants to allow for operational reallocation to cover urgent needs, such as security-related expenses, salaries and insurance.

Unrestricted funding is also critical. Local groups need autonomy to allocate resources where they’re most needed, including for financial, legal and digital protection. Philanthropic funders should prioritise high-quality support – funding that is flexible, predictable and for core work – to support local civil society’s agency and autonomy and avoid orientation around donor priorities. Philanthropy must recognise that trust in local leadership is both the right and strategic thing to do.

2. Strengthen local civil society’s governance through collaboration and promote trust and support

Local leadership isn’t just about financial support; it’s about co-creating the systems and structures that enable local groups to thrive. Philanthropy can play a pivotal role in supporting local groups to strengthen their governance, risk management and compliance systems by fostering collaboration and innovation rather than imposing external standards. Support should be tailored, context specific and co-designed.

One key step is providing direct support to local groups to develop systems that prioritise accountability while trusting them to manage resources. This requires funders to move away from overly prescriptive conditions and toward models of support that acknowledge the leadership and agency of local civil society.

Philanthropy must also recognise that compelling narratives and ambitious policies are needed to stimulate trust and support local civil society. Progressive philanthropic funders can encourage others to follow suit.

3. Invest in infrastructure enabling diverse local civil society groups to collectively organise, share resources and strengthen resilience

In an increasingly interconnected world, the ability of local civil society groups to connect, collaborate and share resources is more important than ever. Investments in infrastructure can enable civil society to bravely defend and promote civic freedoms. Investment will facilitate collective influencing and knowledge-sharing networks, ensuring organisations are better prepared for further funding instability.

Philanthropic funders can earmark funds for emergency response, including for legal defence, audits and unforeseen security threats. Security in the digital sphere is also a critical need, and support can be provided for digital communications infrastructure, encrypted platforms and security audits.

Support for protection of civic space and promotion of civil society participation in decision-making will help enable strategic resistance against rollbacks of hard-won rights and gender, racial and social justice gains.

It’s also crucial to recognise that progressive local civil society groups and leaders are key enablers of locally led development and strengthen civil society’s support infrastructure. Investments in these infrastructures ensure that local groups have the necessary space, resources, agency and autonomy to shape and implement solutions that best fit their contexts.

CIVICUS’s Local Leadership Labs initiative addresses the political, technical and behavioural barriers that hinder governments, donors and other stakeholders from fully embracing and resourcing diverse civil society groups as legitimate participants in development. These labs support radically inclusive spaces, where local civil society groups can drive the development of policies and solutions, together with decision-makers and other key players. This cultivates spaces for collaboration, allowing diverse civil society groups and multi-stakeholder initiatives to share knowledge, reflect and strategise together.

A call to reaffirm commitment to locally led development

Philanthropic funders have unique convening authority, networks and partnerships that can be leveraged to advocate for locally led development. This isn’t just about funding; it’s about using influence to shift narratives and create an enabling environment where local civil society can thrive. Philanthropist must publicly reaffirm their commitment to the Donor Statement on Supporting Locally-Led Development and take real steps to put these principles into action.

The challenges are immense, but so too are the opportunities. By fostering an environment where local civil society has the resources, autonomy and trust to lead, philanthropy can move beyond financial transactions and become a transformative partner.

Tais Siqueira is Coordinator of CIVICUS’s Local Leadership Lab

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