Research Partnerships for Sustainable Solutions in Governing the Extractive Industries

By serving as a platform for discussion and integrating the views of civil society, enterprises in the commodity sector and politics, the conference reached beyond the scientific community. Initiating and facilitating dialogue among stakeholders is one of KFPE’s core objectives. It builds on the strong conviction that joint research teams are a vital prerequisite to producing research findings which are especially suitable in tackling the challenges of global transformations.

The panel discussion at the end of the conference raised the following questions:
What leverage does the Swiss Federal Government have to minimize negative effects in the extractive industries and enhance socio-economic development in the South? Would stronger regulation help and would this on the other hand hurt the Swiss economy? To pick out a few aspects of a lively discussion: the two Swiss politicians argued for more transparency, whereas the representative of Glencore asked for more effective cooperation between the private sector and the Swiss government when it comes to dealing with often not so stable host governments.

Panel Discussion with (from left - see the picture) Maja Ingold (Member of the National Council), Danielle Lalive d'Epinay (moderation), Michel Fahrbach (Head Corporate Sustainability, Glencor plc) and Carlo Sommaruga (Member of the National Council)