Sustained capital flows into mining will depend on demonstrable, measurable and independently verifiable improvements in environmental, social and governance (ESG) performance across the mining sector, says investor-led initiative the Global Investor Commission on Mining 2030.

The commission will play a prominent role at the 2026 Investing in African Mining Indaba, where its investor-aligned ESG framework and policy workstreams will feed into dialogue between miners, financiers, governments and communities. Its agenda aligns directly with the Indaba theme of Stronger together: Progress through partnerships, reflecting the commission’s push for collaborative, accountable and responsibly governed mining as a prerequisite for future capital flows.

The current dispersion in performance standards is no longer compatible with the expectations of long-term capital investment, stresses Global Investor Commission for Mining 2030 chairperson and Church of England Pensions Board chief responsible investment officer Adam Matthews.

“We are looking at where we want to see the industry get to as a whole. There are clearly leaders, but across the spectrum of issues that challenge the sector, we need to see a much broader movement towards the high-performance standards that investors ultimately want to see as norms across the industry,” he says.

This forms the basis of the commission’s ten-year framework, which will produce a suite of investor tools aimed at tracking and supporting continuous progress by mining companies on climate resilience, water management, community relations, health and safety, and the application of consolidated mining standards.

These metrics, confirms Matthews, are intended to feed directly into debt instruments, index methodologies and equity weightings, thereby linking capital allocation to evidence-supported performance appraisal.

With institutional investors continuing to underweigh or exclude African mining, the commission anticipates that this year’s Mining Indaba will serve as a critical point of re-engagement, with Matthews pointing out that many investors are reconsidering the sector as its systemic role in global supply chains, decarbonisation and industrial strategy becomes clearer.

“The opportunity is to see investors looking again at mining to understand its systemic relevance and how they can invest responsibly in responsible mining,” he says.

Clearer investor expectations across mining companies and downstream value-chain participants will feature prominently in Mining Indaba discussions, and the commission has consolidated these expectations following a global consultative process while responding to industry calls for investors to adopt longer-term time horizons for mining capital.

The African mining sector’s ability to secure future investment will hinge on its capacity to demonstrate consistent disclosure and credible climate risk strategies and adhere to rigorous responsible-mining standards.

Critical minerals will amplify these investment signals, states Matthews, adding that Africa’s position as a strategic supplier to energy-transition markets places renewed emphasis on transparent, rules-based operating environments and in-country value generation.

“A more balanced compact between producer nations and demand-side countries is feasible and urgent, underpinned by responsible production and strengthened regulatory systems,” he says.

Deepening Legitimacy, Strengthening Governance

Community legitimacy remains central to the Global Investor Commission on Mining 2030’s outlook, with its developing new mechanisms that will enable investors to distinguish between companies embedding responsible practice at structural and operational levels and those lagging behind.

This is especially relevant for operations in jurisdictions with weaker governance frameworks, states Matthews.

He also underscores the need for systematic approaches to legacy mining liabilities, including responsible closure practices for existing assets and new financing mechanisms for abandoned sites without clear ownership.

The commission is further proposing an “international minerals agency” to consolidate demand-and-supply modelling, strengthen regulatory knowledge transfer across jurisdictions and improve the tracking of illicit mineral flows linked to conflict.

This proposal has been presented to Brazil’s government and will be advanced with South Africa in the coming months.