Holding mining companies to account in Botswana
IIED’s technical support has equipped Botswana communities to push for corporate action to limit the negative impact of copper mining on lives, livelihoods and the land.
Mining pollution and its environmental impact from the Selibe Pikwe Cu-Ni mine (BCL) in Botswana (Photo: Moagi Letshwenyo/Journal of Environmental Chemistry and Ecotoxicology vol. 8(8), August 2016, CC BY 4.0)
The transition to green energy has created a race for copper, the cornerstone of green energy.
As global demand for this critical mineral grows, so too have the socio-environmental burdens for communities in copper-rich regions, including Botswana’s Kalahari Copper Belt. The area has seen rapid expansion and investment from mining corporations in recent years, at a cost to communities.
The Advancing Land-based Investment Governance (ALIGN) project, co-led by IIED, has responded by sharing its research, policy and advocacy expertise with local NGOs, supporting them to hold mining companies to account.
Counting the cost
From 2023-25, ALIGN’s technical support facility worked with Botswana Watch Organisation and DITSHWANELO – The Botswana Centre for Human Rights to produce a report analysing the impacts of new copper mines in the Ghanzi and North-West Districts, and exploring solutions.
The analysis uncovered several serious types of harm faced by local people, particularly the historically marginalised Indigenous Basarwa/San communities:
- Environmental (pollution, nature degradation)
- Economic (livestock loss, unfairly distributed mining-related opportunities), and
- Social (limited community grievance mechanisms, a rise in sexually transmitted infections, a rise in ‘survival sex work’ by minors).
The research findings were shared with the national government and informed a recent countrywide review of Botswana’s mining legislation.
Awareness and advocacy
With ALIGN’s support – including advocacy training and assistance on policy communiques – Botswana Watch and DITSHWANELO ran national awareness-raising and advocacy initiatives to tackle the issues raised in the study.
The two organisations also brought together community members, mine representatives and local/national government officials to discuss mining’s disproportion burden on host communities.
As a result, mining companies have taken concrete steps to mitigate some of the harmful effects of their operations in Kalahari Copper Belt. Communities have already reported tangible improvements, including:
- Expanded medical facilities
- Stronger grievance mechanisms
- Paved roads and new traffic calming measures to reduce crop and livestock loss
- More opportunities to bid for local procurement contracts
- More transparency, access and engagement with the private sector, and
- A truck-stop further away from settlements, to address concerns around underage sex work.
The conversation… has changed. Community members are more vocal to engage with the mines when they feel things are not going accordingly
– community member, Ghanzi
Crucially, as copper mining activities intensify, ALIGN’s support has given these Indigenous communities more tools to engage with mining officials and district government.
