EITI Global Conference Puts Critical Mineral Supply Chains on Brussels Agenda

The Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative will convene its 10th Global Conference in Brussels on October 8 and 9, bringing government, industry, civil-society and international-organisation leaders together as mineral supply chains face growing pressure for traceability and reliable data.

The main conference will take place at the SQUARE convention centre, with pre-conference meetings beginning on October 5 at several Brussels venues. EITI’s official programme places responsible investment, domestic revenue mobilisation, corruption risks and responsible mineral supply chains at the centre of the week.

A dedicated October 8 session, titled “Responsible is reliable,” will examine how traceability, origin verification and due diligence can strengthen mineral supply chains during a period of geopolitical and market uncertainty. The programme is designed to compare the priorities of producing countries, consuming markets, companies and investors rather than treating responsible sourcing as a single technical standard.

For mining companies and commodity traders, the operational question is how data from the point of extraction can travel through processing and trade without becoming fragmented or unverifiable. For governments, the same systems affect tax collection, licensing oversight and public confidence in the revenues generated by natural resources.

The programme includes OECD Secretary-General Mathias Cormann, International Council on Mining and Metals chief executive Rohitesh Dhawan, Orano chief executive Nicolas Maes, United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime executive director Monica Juma, ministers from resource-producing countries and industry specialists including Trafigura’s head of responsible sourcing.

The agenda extends beyond critical-mineral traceability. Sessions will address revenue collection, beneficial ownership, anti-corruption safeguards, state-owned enterprises, energy-transition financing and the ways local communities can participate in decisions about extraction and its economic benefits.

Country stands, Innovation Talks and an Impact Hub are intended to turn the event into a working exchange as well as a conference. Sessions are scheduled in several languages, including English, French, Spanish, Russian and Portuguese, depending on the programme slot.

The conference will not itself create a binding global mineral standard. Its significance will be measured by the commitments, data tools and partnerships that emerge from the meetings, and by whether governments and companies translate the discussions into more comparable disclosures and more credible supply-chain verification.