A/HRC/43/45/Add.2 47. Health assessments of the impact of mining on workers, mobile support staff and the surrounding populations are not systematically conducted, especially in small mines. In this regard, close monitoring should be regularly carried out to ensure that health assessments are effectively undertaken and their conclusions taken into consideration. A joint agency among the relevant ministries, including the Ministry of Health, could be established for this purpose and to ensure close follow-up, and to ensure that environmental impact assessments are conducted in parallel and that each of the evaluations mutually informs the other. 48. By law in Mongolia, there is an obligation to conduct environmental impact assessments for mining licences to be granted, and a monitoring system to assess the impact during and after mining operations is included in legislation. Such assessments go beyond environmental issues, including, even partially, social and economic dimensions, but are incomparable to the comprehensive impact assessment of coal mining and transportation activities from Tavan Tolgoi coal mines commissioned by the National Human Rights Commission of Mongolia in 2018.60 It was brought to the Independent Expert’s attention that following that assessment, the Government has tackled some of its recommendations, addressing gaps in infrastructure. 49. However, at the heart of the current environmental impact assessment system lies an inner conflict of interests that is worrisome: mining corporations are identifying, contacting, contracting and paying private consultancy firms that prepare an assessment to be submitted for licensing purposes, posing serious questions regarding the independence of the evaluator. The delegation of this exercise to private corporations or third parties does not free the State from its obligations under international human rights law, nor is the private actor absolved from applying all the legal substantive and procedural standards enumerated guiding principles on human rights impact assessments of economic reforms.61 50. There is a need to develop a domestic, professional and independent policy analysis capacity within the public sector to avoid dependence on private consultancy firms that are ultimately paid by the mining corporations requesting licences. The Government must also take further steps to support the ability of affected communities and civil society at large to participate and provide parallel information to assessment processes. 51. Progress has been made since the 2017 visit of the Special Rapporteur on the issue of human rights obligations relating to the enjoyment of a safe, clean, healthy and sustainable environment, who noted the limited number of staff members in the Ministry of Environment and Tourism’s environmental assessment and audit division.62 Nevertheless, a team of only seven people is in charge of reviewing the environmental assessments of all mining projects in the country. There is an obvious and immediate need to invest further human resources in this key responsibility, given the importance of mining activities for Mongolia and the scale of their potential environmental and human rights impacts. 52. In this regard, the Independent Expert welcomes the efforts being deployed by the Government to develop a national action plan on business and human rights. The Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights are relevant for the whole mining sector, as they provide specific guidance on the corporate responsibility to respect human rights, particularly the obligation to do no harm and prevent and mitigate potential human rights impacts. 53. Measures to ensure the investment of a fair share of mining activities to adequately compensate local communities for the use of their traditional lands, such as community development agreements, are not always fully implemented or do not result in concrete benefits for local populations and those particularly affected. In this regard, the Independent Expert shares the concerns of the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights about the impact of the extractive industries on herder communities’ economic, social and cultural rights, particularly their rights to their pasture, hay land and water resources.63 60 61 62 63 10 Mongolian Institute for Innovative Policies, Human Rights Impact Assessment of Mining and Transportation of Coal from Tavan Tolgoi (Ulaanbaatar, 2018). Guiding principles (A/HRC/40/57), para. 15.3. A/HRC/37/58/Add.2, paras. 30–31. E/C.12/MNG/CO/4, para. 8.