The minerals sector (and other sectors as well) has invested a huge amount of resources into voluntary sustainability standards (VSS) for well over a decade. These standards, which are governed by industry or multi-stakeholder bodies, set requirements for responsible business practices in relation to actual or potential adverse impacts on human rights and/or the environment. Many standards operate an auditing or certification scheme which are designed to assess and verify compliance with their standard.
In the minerals sector, these schemes often constitute a major pillar of a business' due diligence efforts as part of responsible business conduct. Yet many businesses rely excessively on schemes for human rights and environmental due diligence, and civil society organisations, trade unions and researchers have drawn attention to this overreliance as well as weaknesses in some standards’ requirements and their associated schemes.
Levin Sources is a social enterprise comprised of responsible minerals experts and practitioners. We work closely with businesses, multi-stakeholder groupings, governments and standards-setters to maximise the contribution schemes can make to responsible and sustainable minerals sectors, while openly acknowledging their inherent limitations and identifying areas for improvement. To enable us to independently and critically evaluate these schemes and their sustainability standards, we have consciously taken the decision not to provide audits. As such, we play a unique role in the minerals sector providing independent assessment and recommendations about how to make sense of the voluntary standards landscape, the purposes they can serve, and their limitations.
Examples of Levin Sources’ work on voluntary sustainability standards, including their auditing and certification schemes, include:
Strengthening the role of rightsholders in mineral sector auditing
As a core partner in the 3-year EU Horizon Project DiliCHANCE, Levin Sources is leading work examining ways to strengthen involvement of affected people in auditing conducted in minerals value chains as part of industry or multi-stakeholder schemes. The inclusion of rightsholders’ perspectives in these audits can significantly contribute to improved outcomes for people and environments affected by minerals sector activity. However, engagement with rightsholders in minerals sector auditing is very uneven across different schemes.
As part of this workstream, Levin Sources is working with DiliCHANCE project consortium and representatives from business, schemes, civil society, trade unions and the auditing and assurance profession to:
- Conduct a large-scale assessment of 20 voluntary standards managed by 14 schemes commonly used in the minerals sector. The assessment evaluates the degree to which they involve rightsholders in auditing and their alignment to the expectations of the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights and the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises on Responsible Business Conduct. The findings of this assessment are encapsulated in a series of policy briefs available here.
- Develop approximately 10 case studies on leading existing practice in engagement of rightsholders in the context of minerals sector auditing, and identify commonalities in what makes these leading practices (development in progress; results due in the first half of 2026)
- Develop a model for engaging rightsholders in minerals sector auditing that is practical, feasible, and effective to foster meaningful engagement of rightsholders in auditing processes in the minerals sector (results due in the second half of 2026)
- Deliver training for auditing and assurance professionals and schemes about the importance of engagement of rightsholders in auditing and the principles of the developed model (training to be conducted in 2027).
We welcome engagement with all external stakeholders on this project.
Enhancing voluntary sustainability standards’ contribution to minerals sector governance in key production countries
Commissioned by GIZ on behalf of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), Levin Sources authored a study (2024) examining the role of VSS in minerals sector governance in key production countries and identifying areas to strengthen synergies between VSS and local authorities toward more sustainable mining. Building on the findings of the study, Levin Sources developed a concept for strengthening dialogue and exchange between VSS and local authorities, which is currently being piloted in one production country in collaboration with GIZ. | Read the study
Assessing the fitness of VSS to manage salient human rights and environmental issues in copper and bauxite production
On behalf of the German Sector Dialogues for the automotive and energy sectors, Levin Sources carried out two fitness assessments of selected VSS to manage severe (salient) human rights and environmental issues in copper mining (globally) and bauxite mining (in Guinea). The fitness assessments are conducted using Levin Sources’ customised methodology which breaks down the expectations of the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights and the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises on Responsible Business Conduct into specific indicators examining factors such as scheme governance, transparency, risk and due diligence scope, auditor qualifications and rightsholders engagement.
Advising individual businesses on use of VSS in the supply chain
We regularly advise companies and financial institutions about the use of VSS in supply chains they are connected to through business relationships. When supply chain businesses report that they use certain VSS, we help our clients analyse what the use of that VSS tells them about human rights and environmental due diligence in the supply chain. We also support clients that are seeking to set requirements for their supply chain regarding use of certain VSS, and how to complement use of a VSS with other critical due diligence activities. Our clients for this type of advising include those from the automotive, packaging, ICT, component manufacturing, batteries, consumer goods and financial sectors.
Moderating dialogue on rightsizing the role of VSS in business
On behalf of the German Sector Dialogues and the German Federal Ministry for Labour and Social Affairs, Levin Sources moderated a November 2024 event in Berlin focused on the appropriate role of voluntary sustainability standards in responsible business conduct. The full-day event hosted by the Ministry included company practitioners, civil society and trade unions, governmental representatives and financial institutions. | See our Insights article encapsulating key findings and opportunities surfaced through this event
Assessing the role of VSS in forest-smart mining
Mining activities have profound impacts on the world’s forests - from direct tree cover loss at mine sites to widespread indirect and cumulative effects that endanger high-integrity forests, biodiversity hotspots, and forest-dependent communities. Levin Sources contributed to a briefing paper that examines the capacity of voluntary sustainability initiatives (VSIs) to mitigate these harmful forest impacts. Drawing on a comprehensive literature review, an analysis of 26 standards and guidance documents from 20 VSIs, and insights gathered from interviews with representatives of 14 VSIs, the study identifies key challenges facing VSIs. The paper includes some considerations of voluntary sustainability standards. | Read the full report on 'The role of voluntary sustainability initiatives in addressing impacts of mining on forests'
