THE Global Centre for Peacebuilding and Business was launched on Sunday by the Archbishop of Cape Town, Dr Thabo Makgoba, to “witness against injustice in mining practices, and to foster equitable partnerships that honour people and our planet”.

Preaching in St George’s Cathedral, Cape Town, Dr Makgoba said that, since 2013, the Church had convened talks between chief executives of mining companies, community leaders, and NGOs “to explore how the pursuit of business, the promotion of human dignity, and caring for the environment intersect”.

He continued: “Across Africa and beyond, local disputes over mineral wealth fuel ethnic tensions, insurgencies, and human suffering. The Democratic Republic of Congo [DRC], home to an estimated $24 trillion in untapped minerals, has seen six million deaths since 1996. And rebel groups profit from revenues from coltan, the mineral used in the manufacture of products such as smartphones, laptops, and electric vehicles.”

The discovery of gas and rubies in northern Mozambique had contributed to “a vicious insurgency”, Dr Makgoba said. “Thousands of civilians have been killed and over a million people displaced from their homes.”

The challenges presented by mining would grow over the next two decades “as areas are mined out and the mines there begin to close. Old mining sites will need to be cleaned up and stabilised, hazardous material removed, waste dealt with, and ecosystems restored. New mining ventures will need to adopt truly sustainable practices.”

He said that the new centre was called “to let our light shine, to be salt that seasons and preserves, to witness against injustice in mining practices, and to foster equitable partnerships that honour people and our planet”.

Its work would focus in particular on regions in which “extraction fuels conflict”, such as Goma, in the DRC; Madagascar; parts of Brazil; and “areas plagued by the Zama-Zamas in South Africa, the informal miners who work abandoned shafts.

“Together, through prayer, advocacy, dialogue, and innovative finance, we can promote the rehabilitation of old mine landscapes, prevent new harms, and build local infrastructures for peace.”

The Chief Responsible Investment Officer of the Church of England Pensions Board, Adam Matthews, is a co-chair of the centre. The Rt Revd David Urquhart, a former Bishop of Birmingham, is a member of its faith advisory council.

gcpb.org