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Media

Breaking the Links Between Commerce and Conflict

Dates: 25 October 2011
Time: 13.00 to 14.30
Location: IDS Convening Space

About the presentation

Mike Davis discussed the challenges of breaking the links between commerce and conflict.

Global Witness has established itself as the leading voice on the links between resource wealth, corruption and conflict in the planet's most troubled areas. Their investigations are internationally respected by governments and policymakers and regularly feature in the media. They seek new ways to communicate their message and bring about change that sees resource wealth drive development rather than fuel conflict and corruption.

Listen to the speakers

Listen to Mike Davis (speaker), Nick Perkins (moderator) and Tracy Swemmer (attendee) discuss what they think the biggest challenge is for business operating in areas of conflict; the global implications and what they took from the seminar. Hear the interviews on Mixcloud above.

Key points from the seminar

Resources that are extracted/traded during a conflict can give rise to or finance military activity, serious human rights violations and in some cases provide an incentive for fighting
With conflict diamonds the emphasis has been on things the government has been doing, and that the state controls (the Kimberly Process) and with conflict minerals a lot more focus has been based on what companies can and should do
Currently much debate is about the Dodd Frank Act, as a small part is to do with conflict minerals and the effectiveness of international response. The law requires that companies that use tin, tantalum and gold must do due diligence on their supply chains and report to the America’s country regulator on security and exchange commission on what it is they have done
There are quite a few international initiatives for setting in place the infrastructure for companies which want to continue trading with these minerals, for doing so, in a way which allows them to show where the materials came from and conditions which they were produced – pilot phase, not fully operational yet
States have an important role to play in creating conditions for responsible businesses. At the same time actions to address the problems of this trade should not be held hostage to the inability of governments to take the lead.

Listen to Mike Davis's seminar on breaking the links between commerce and conflict.

About the speaker

Mike Davis works with Global Witness, an NGO which investigates the links between natural resource exploitation and armed conflict and corruption. Mike heads Global Witness' Conflict Resources Team, whose main areas of focus currently include conflict minerals in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, blood diamonds in Zimbabwe, oil in Sudan and natural resource governance in Liberia. Between 2005 and 2007 he led the Global Witness work on corruption, organised crime and environmental degradation in the timber trade in Cambodia and Burma.