ABSTRACT
100Emerging from the Earth Summit in 1992, both Agenda 21 and Principle 10 of the Rio Declaration called for increased public involvement in environmental decision – making. This led, in Europe, to the adoption of the Aarhus Convention in 1998, the most comprehensive international agreement on the right to and importance of public participation in decision-making. Not surprisingly then, public consultation and, as a project evolves, public participation is now accepted as an integral part of any mine development. The importance of public consultation and participation is also reflected in the IFC Performance Standards (PS).
