Developing due diligence guidance for responsible mineral supply chains for the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office
TDi Sustainability, under contract from the UK Government Diamond Office (GDO) at the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCO), has been pivotal in developing due diligence guidance for responsible mineral supply chains in project-assisted 3T&G sectors in Northern Ireland. The project aims to enhance responsible sourcing practices for OECD alignment and enforce the EU Conflict Minerals Regulations in Northern Ireland.
Key Objectives and Project Scope
The project aimed to build sustainable knowledge and expertise in the OECD Due Diligence Guidance for Responsible Supply Chains of Minerals from Conflict-Affected and High-Risk Areas.
It involved co-managing a public consultation process and the publication of final statutory guidance to ensure transparent and inclusive stakeholder engagement.
TDi Sustainability was tasked with developing, designing, and enabling the implementation of an operating model for enforcing the Regulations in Northern Ireland within the existing resources of the GDO:
- The operating model needed to be fully compliant with the regulations and be proportionate to the market, enabling a risk-based approach, including procedures on inspections/spot checks.
- The project also involved making recommendations on a potential conflict minerals legislative framework for Great Britain in alignment with the overarching objectives.