The construction of a 530 km oil pipeline that transports crude oil from oil fields in Tamsag basin in Matad soum, Dornod aimag to the first Oil Refinery of Mongolia, which is under construction in Altanshiree soum, Dornogobi aimag has started.

The launching ceremony of the oil pipeline construction took place on April 28 with attendance of Dr. D. Altantsetseg, Executive Director of state-owned company “Mongol Refinery” LLC, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Republic of India to Mongolia Mohinder Pratap Singh, delegates of the Chinese state-owned ‘Norinco International Cooperation’ Co.Ltd and other officials.

The Government of Mongolia is implementing the Project to establish a grass root Oil Refinery Plant within the framework of the soft loan extended by the Government of India to ensure nation’s energy independency and expand the industry diversification. Upon approving the Detailed Feasibility Study and selecting "Engineers India Limited" as Project Management Consultant in 2019, the design and engineering works had started, and now, from this year on, the mechanical erection of the main technological facilities starts at full capacity.

The Government made a decision to transport the raw material of the oil refinery through a pipeline in 2020. As the Chinese state-owned ‘Norinco International Cooperation’ Co.Ltd won the tender to select a contractor to finance and construct the oil pipeline, a cooperation agreement was signed in April 2022.

The crude oil pipeline that pass through nine soums of three aimags, stretching for 530 kilometres is scheduled to be completed in 2025.

Ms Fiona Blyth has been appointed His Majesty’s Ambassador to Mongolia in succession to Mr Philip Malone LVO who will be transferring to another Diplomatic Service appointment.

Ms Blyth will take up her appointment during July 2023.

CURRICULUM VITAE

Full name: Ms Fiona Blyth

Year Role

2021 to 2022 Cabinet Office, Russia / Ukraine Team Leader, National Security Secretariat

2020 to 2021 Cabinet Office, Principal Analyst (Middle East)

2017 to 2020 Mogadishu, Senior Political Affairs Officer, United Nations Assistance Mission in Somalia

2013 to 2017 FCO, United Kingdom Mission to the United Nations in New York, Senior Policy Adviser

2013 New York, Policy Analyst, International Peace Institute

2012 New York, Researcher to the Director of Policy, the Clinton Foundation

2011 to 2012 FCO, Desk Officer, European Counter Terrorism

2006 to 2010 British Army, Officer

Newsdesk

Press and Digital Department l Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office

Japanese brewer Kirin has agreed to buy Australian vitamins maker Blackmores for A$1.88bn ($1.24bn; £999.4m).

The move comes as Kirin expands into healthcare in the face of shrinking beer sales in its home country and increasing regulation of alcohol.

"The acquisition of Blackmores is highly complementary to our existing Health Science business," it said.

The deal also gives Blackmores an exit as it has been struggling to recover sales since the pandemic.

Before Covid-19, the Australian natural health firm benefited from the practice of "daigou", in which Chinese consumers bought goods abroad to take back to China.

"The Kirin Scheme represents an attractive, all-cash transaction," the chair of Blackmores, Wendy Stops, said.

For Kirin, the deal is the latest in its efforts to diversify away from the alcohol business.

Beer sales in Japan have been falling for many years because of lifestyle changes among young people. Last year, the Japanese government launched a nationwide competition calling for ideas to encourage people to drink more alcohol.

At the same time, the World Health Organization has been calling for stricter rules on the global alcohol industry, urging governments to set higher prices to discourage drinking.

Kirin, which is known around the world for its beers, has a wider product range in its home country, including non-alcoholic, sugar-free drinks.

It also owns healthcare businesses and in 2019 started a partnership with Japanese skincare products and dietary supplements firm Fancl.

Kirin has previously said it aims to generate ¥500bn ($3.7bn; £2.97bn) in sales a year from its health business by the end of the decade.

The deal is expected to be completed in August. It is supported by Marcus Blackmore, the firm's founder's son, who has an 18% stake.

After the announcement, shares in the Australian firm rose by more than 20%, gaining the most in more than seven years.

The frequent and strong sandstorms that have swept across northern China and some parts of southern China this year have surprised many people after years of relative lull during what had come to be known as the "sandstorm season" in March and April. Many are surprised also because the sandstorms occurred despite China combating desertification for decades.

Since the sandstorms originated in Mongolia, China should strengthen cooperation in environmental management with Mongolia to prevent such weather conditions.

North China shares a similar monsoonal climate, a variant of the continental climate, with southern Mongolia. The fact is, Mongolia has a rather fragile ecological environment with an arid climate that can be greatly influenced by climate change and environmental degradation elsewhere.

Also, in Mongolia, the average temperature has increased by 2.25 degrees Celsius, twice the world average, over the past 80 years. And while more than three-quarters of Mongolia's land is either desert or arid or facing desertification and soil degradation, climate-related natural disasters have increased, especially over the past 10 years. And sandstorms, in particular, could cause huge losses to the local people.

Although the Mongolian government has taken measures to address the desertification problem, the huge gap between human activities and environmental and ecological revival remains a chronic environmental problem.

The over-exploitation of soil for farming — less than 2 percent of Mongolia's land area is arable — excessive use of water for agriculture and construction, overgrazing of land, including on pastures, and the unrestrained extraction of underground resources have been continuously reducing the underground water tables and turning the land bare, making it easier for even strong winds to carry millions of tons of sand southward.

China has been working with Mongolia to combat desertification and reduce sandstorms. Still, more efforts are needed to raise the underground water tables and revitalize the soil, including the surface soil, in order to prevent sandstorms.

In 2021, Mongolian President Ukhnaagiin Khurelsukh launched a national campaign for planting 1 billion trees by 2030 as part of the country's fight against climate change. The campaign started in earnest this year.

The Xinjiang Uygur and Inner Mongolia autonomous regions, which share their border with Mongolia, can boost cooperation with Mongolia and help it build a green great wall. This will also help better protect China's "Green Great Wall", and promote the Three-North Shelter Forest Program and the afforestation projects in northern, northwestern and northeastern China.

Moreover, as parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and the Paris Agreement, China and Mongolia can also boost bilateral cooperation through the two authoritative international agreements, as well as through the UN Convention to Combat Desertification.

Under the framework of the Silk Road Fund-established with the aim of promoting cooperation and development in Belt and Road countries — China and Mongolia can jointly establish a "green fund" so Mongolia can have easy access to financing for green development projects, including the "One Billion Trees" campaign.

Besides, the Mongolian National Climate Committee approved the 2023 action plans to bolster the national campaign, including tree-planting programs and improvement of policies and laws to fight climate change by, among other things, setting carbon dioxide emission goals and improving the energy, agriculture and construction sectors.

Inner Mongolia and Xinjiang can deepen cooperation with Mongolia in these sectors. By doing so, they can also benefit China's green development projects. Chinese herbs with economic value, such as the drought-resistant sea buckthorns, herbacynomorii and cistanches can be planted in Mongolian areas to prevent soil erosion and sandstorms. Joint planting can help not only improve the eco-environment and boost Mongolia's environmental resilience but also promote employment for local farmers and herdsmen.

Climate change is a common global challenge. Only with the harmonious coexistence between humans and nature, better planning to achieve sustainable development, and a change in people's lifestyle to reduce environmental damage can a solution to the climate problem be found. Global governance of climate issues is an objective requirement and inevitable trend for all countries.

Fan Lijun is a research fellow at the Inner Mongolia Academy of Social Sciences; Zhao Rigetu is an associate research fellow at the Inner Mongolia Academy of Social Sciences; and Huang Tonglaga is a doctoral candidate at the National University of Mongolia.

The views don't necessarily represent those of China Daily.

If you have a specific expertise, or would like to share your thought about our stories, then send us your writings at opinion@chinadaily.com.cn, and comment@chinadaily.com.cn.

“Khovd Eco Cement” factory has been officially put into operation, writing a new chapter in the development history of Western Mongolia.

President of Mongolia Ukhnaagiin Khurelsukh attended the opening ceremony and delivered a speech. While highlighting the fact that the “Khovd Eco Cement” factory is the biggest factory that has ever been built in Mongolia since 2020, President said, “A transition from welfare to labor, from extraction to processing and from import to export is starting right here, right from this factory. “Khovd Eco Cement” project will give great impetus for state policy implementation to develop aimag centers into town, reduce rural-to-urban migration and provide rural citizens with adequate living conditions.”

The “Khovd Eco Cement” is a dry-process cement factory that doesn't use water in its mining, crushing, grinding, and mixing in the correct proportion stages of manufacturing. The dry process has also the advantages of small pollution and low energy consumption. In addition, the dust collection system has been installed in each manufacturing process.

The factory has a production capacity of 250 thousand tons of cement per year, which is enough to build 504 kindergartens and its total surrounding area is 20 hectares or equal to 19 football fields. It has also beneficial implications for a range of social outcomes, such as creating 350 new jobs, supporting small and medium enterprises, and increasing the incomes of about 3000 people. Moreover, the factory will export cement to Russia, and Kazakhstan and supply the required cement for construction of the Erdeneburen Hydropower plant to contribute to the cost reduction.

Under the “One Billion Trees” National Campaign, the factory workers planted 5000 trees and 100,000 seedlings last year.

Mongolia is blessed with a wealth of mineral resources, and mining has always been an important part of Mongolia’s economy. However, mining revenues are not allocated wisely; instead of using mineral wealth to reduce its dependence on the extractive sector, Mongolia has become “addicted” to it.

In addition, the industry is plagued by corruption. The Corruption Perceptions Index 2023 by Transparency International ranks Mongolia 116th out of 180 countries. The corporate corruption of state-owned mining companies took society by storm in December 2022. Thousands of Mongolians protested in the freezing cold, demanding the government hold officials accountable for the alleged theft of 385,000 tons of coal.

Basically, Mongolia hasn’t been managing its mineral wealth well. So how can Mongolians address these shortcomings moving forward?

Transparency and accountability initiatives have emerged as a potential solution to combat corruption and increase public benefits from the extractive sector in resource-abundant countries. For example, the Canadian mining industry worked alongside civil society and the government to put Canada in a leadership position in the global transparency movement. Starting in 2012, the Prospectors and Developers Association of Canada (PDAC) has actively advocated for greater transparency in mineral exploration, by disclosing and reporting payments made to any level of government in Canada or overseas. In June 2015, the government of Canada issued the Extractive Sector Transparency Measures Act, which requires mining and oil and gas entities to disclose such payments.

The Extractive Industry Transparency Initiative (EITI) is another initiative designed to combat corruption in the mining industry. Mongolia joined this initiative in September 2007. EITI aims to strengthen resource governance and reverse the “resource curse” through reporting on companies’ payments to governments and governments’ receipt of such payments. Since 2013, information disclosures include licenses and contracts, production and sales, beneficial ownership, and state participation.

Transparency is essential, but there is growing evidence that transparency alone is not sufficient to improve natural resource governance’s social and economic outcomes. To maximize the benefits of these transparency initiatives, a stakeholders engagement process should be in place.

Major international organizations such as the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), the United Nations, the European Union, and the World Bank have stressed the importance of stakeholder engagement as a useful process in promoting dialogue and building relationships.

The International Council on Mining and Metals (ICMM), the global mining industry body, identifies stakeholders’ engagement as one of the key principles for the mining industry to promote sustainable benefits from resource extraction. As a global leadership organization for sustainable development, the ICMM obligates its members to proactively engage with key stakeholders on sustainable development challenges and opportunities in an open and transparent manner. It measures success by contributing to creating “a safe, just and sustainable world through responsibly produced metals and minerals.”

Industry leaders also recognize that the most important piece is engagement with local stakeholders to ensure they are involved in decisions likely to affect them and able to cooperate in achieving sustainable benefits during and after mining. In particular, environment, social, and governance (ESG) targets are essential to increasing societal acceptance of mining.

A recent study on community engagement in mining in Mongolia demonstrates that the majority of mining companies – whether large conglomerates or small enterprises; state-owned or private; foreign or Mongolian owned – do not have community engagement or social responsibility policies in their corporate management policy. There are examples of a few companies that have community engagement programs and social responsibility policies; in such cases, their relationships with local communities are well established, long term, and well maintained. But these are the exceptions, rather than the norm.

The study indicates that a low level of community engagement and lack of transparency of agreements in the mining sector reflects the overall picture of the mining industry in Mongolia. And the environmental performance of mining companies is one of the key indicators of whether the local community has trust in mining companies.

The Intergovernmental Forum on Mining, Minerals and Metals on Sustainable Development (IGF) highlights the importance of consultation and engagement on the social and environmental impacts of mining. It recommends that governments promote stakeholder engagement through government policies as an important part of developing good practices and as a tool for reducing environmental impacts and maximizing benefits to communities.

Stakeholder engagement in mining encompasses several key components such as participatory environmental monitoring, including transparent data communication, and community-based water monitoring that promote trust and building relationships.

Moreover, the stakeholders’ engagement platform provides an opportunity for mining companies to communicate their anti-bribery program and this way increase accountability.

Enhanced transparency through the stakeholders’ engagement process will help to reduce instances of corruption by enabling citizens to participate in the agreement-making process and hold their governments accountable for making better decisions in allocation and spending mining revenues. It will also help to ensure that these revenues contribute to sustainable development for a brighter future for young Mongolians.

So far, a stakeholders’ engagement process in mining is nearly absent (except few mining companies) in Mongolia. The results are clearly seen in recent protests and the Corruption Perception Index. To fix Mongolia’s mining industry – and address the resulting societal discontent – engaging with local communities would be a good place to start.

GUEST AUTHOR

Bolormaa Purevjav

Bolormaa Purevjav is an international development specialist. She is a fellow at the Institute of Asian Research, School of Public Policy and Global Affairs, University of British Columbia, and a Ph.D. candidate at the Mining Engineering Department, UBC.