The Evolution of Responsible Sourcing

This chapter explores the evolution of responsible sourcing in mineral supply chains, given the precedence of negative environmental, social, and economic rights that have been part of our global extractive history. It tracks the evolution of concepts of sustainability from a siloed approach to the trade-offs involved in weak and strong sustainability approaches. The chapter introduces the RE-SOURCING Project’s definition of Responsible Sourcing, based on four years of research and consultations. Taking a rights-based approach, it addresses the responsibilities of duty-bearers to the rights-holders. The definition reflects the societal need to change behaviours within mineral supply chains, requiring a halt to negative impacts but also stressing the need to create positive outcomes from operations. The challenges within environmental, social, economic, and governance landscapes are outlined, and the efforts to address these challenges are summarised. The chapter sets out the analytical framework, explored in greater depth in other chapters, addressing how the need to secure a sustainable future translated into a need for changing codes of behaviour in governance, supply chains, financial valuation, and engineering and production methods. A host of guidelines, standards, and legislation have pushed for changes in how the private and public sectors operate, contributing to securing a sustainable future.