Critical Minerals Innovation Forum

13th - 14th October 2026

London, UK

Nature’s social license: Is the human impact of biodiversity loss the business case for action?

Plenary
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Extractive operations are among the leading drivers of habitat destruction, water depletion and ecosystem degradation in some of the world’s most biodiverse regions. The environmental consequences are well documented. Less examined is what that destruction means for the people who depend on those ecosystems — and what it means for the companies whose social license rests on those communities’ consent.

Human rights provides a more tractable anchor for business than biodiversity metrics alone. Where ecosystem loss translates into loss of livelihoods, displacement or deteriorating access to clean water, it enters the territory of due diligence obligations that companies are increasingly required to act on.

This session examines whether human impact is the lens that finally makes nature a boardroom priority:

  • The scale of mining’s biodiversity footprint and what it means for affected communities
  • Human rights due diligence as a lever for driving nature-related accountability across the value chain
  • How companies are integrating community impact and ecosystem health into site-level decision making
  • What credible nature-positive commitments look like for miners and downstream buyers
Plenary

What to expect from this type of session...

Main stage sessions, but not as you know them. Because we’re off-the-record, leading experts can speak candidly about their experience with what works, and what doesn’t. At least half the session is dedicated to audience insights and questions to ensure we tackle the big issues head on.

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