As the world’s biggest mining companies – of some of the worst emitters of carbon – converge in Cape Town, South Africa to deliberate multi-billion dollar mining deals, Oxfam joins progressive organisations and movements from across the world for the 2024 Alternative Mining Indaba (AMI2024), which kicked off February 5th, 2024 in Cape Town, South Africa.
Oxfam’s participation in the Alternate Mining Indaba reflects our unwavering commitment to the principle of ‘people before profits’ and to supporting movements demanding an industry model that champions people over profits, inclusivity over inequity, and sustainability over exploitation,” says Lebogang Ramafoko, Executive Director of Oxfam South Africa.
“The AMI2024 is more than just an indaba; it is a statement of solidarity with the communities across the continent and the world who have been adversely impacted by the mining industry’s long-standing model of exploitation and extraction.”
“Oxfam is part of a global movement of voices demanding a shift from exploitative economic models to one where the principles of justice and inclusivity are interwoven into the sector’s fabric,” says Ms Ramafoko.
Delegates from around the African continent, will join activists from Latin America, at AMI2024 to discuss intersecting issues of gender, environmental justice, human rights and the devastating impacts of the extractive industry.
Delegates include children impacted by mining, fishing communities whose livelihoods and health are under threat, and researchers documenting the devastating consequences of the extractive industry.
The AMI2024 will challenge the unchecked rush for transition minerals, spotlighting the risks to indigenous territories and sustainable agriculture.
Set against a backdrop of a poly-crisis characterised by climate catastrophe and conflicts threatening food security, the AMI2024 commits to forging a path for dialogue and decisive action.
The AMI2024 theme, “Energy Transition Minerals: Putting Communities First for an Inclusive Feminist Future,” is a direct challenge to the big polluters gathering at the Cape Town International Conference Centre to be held accountable as an industry that is one of the biggest drivers of economic inequality, environmental destruction, human rights abuses, gender inequality and conflict.
