Newly established advisory organisation Resources Resolutions (RR) has announced that two industry executives will join its Global Advisory Council, Chad Holliday and Mark Cutifani.

RR is using the council of eminent figures from industry, international diplomacy and academia to guide its work.

Holliday and Cutifani have also provided seed capital for the organisation, which will aid in tackling resource-related conflict through dialogue and mediation as the threat of societal and geopolitical conflict over natural resources intensifies.

Holliday is the former chairperson of Royal Dutch Shell, as well as former chairperson of Bank of America. His tenure includes CEO of DuPont and chairperson of the World Business Council for Sustainable Development.

He is already a chief adviser for RR, as well as its lead investor.

In turn, Cutifani is the former CEO of major miners Anglo American and AngloGold Ashanti. He is known for his leadership in transforming companies and advocating for responsible mining practices.

He is also currently chairperson of Vale Base Metals and he serves on the boards of TotalEnergies and Laing O’Rourke.

Other members of RR’s Global Advisory Council include Professor Elizabeth Robinson, who is an acting dean at the Global School of Sustainability – within London School of Economics. She is a leading environmental economist with more than 25 years of research experience particularly in low-income countries; and Meg Taylor, former secretary general of the Pacific Islands Forum.

Taylor is a leading advocate for conflict resolution and sustainable development, having founded the compliance advisor ombudsman at the World Bank. She is also the ambassador of Papua New Guinea to the US, Mexico and Canada.

Moreover, Dr Kandeh Yumkella, who is also on the advisory council, is a former UN under-secretary general, founding CEO of the Sustainable Energy for All initiative and former two-term director-general of United Nations Industrial Development Organization.

RR’s founders, Daniel Litvin and Chris Melville, say they are delighted to welcome these illustrious figures to its Global Advisory Council.

“Geopolitical tensions, climate change, societal polarisation and distrust may lead to more and more conflict over natural resources in the years ahead. In this fraught context, we aim to create a space for balanced dialogue,” the founders state.  

With its senior and diverse perspectives, the council will help RR identify how to create common ground between different groups, namely corporate, government, local community and civil society.

Holliday says conflict over natural resources has been a problem facing humanity for centuries. Given current local, national and global divisions, such conflicts now risk becoming worse.

“New solutions and spaces for dialogue are sorely needed. RR’s aim of ‘unearthing win-wins’ around resources to support the interests of stakeholders and governments, as well as those of companies, seems to me the only way forward,” he adds.

Cutifani comments that the energy transition will require significant quantities of minerals to build new infrastructure and manufacture low-carbon inputs for a range of new and environment-friendly products such as electric vehicles.

Societal divisions over new mines and facilities, however, risk holding up progress on sourcing these critical inputs.

“The industry needs to further strengthen its sustainability credentials. Stakeholders also need to take time to understand how responsible mining benefits planet and people,” Cutifani explains.  

He adds that, more than ever, understanding how the world works and mining’s key role in providing critical minerals highlights the need for constructive dialogue to align how we solve these challenges.