An ESIA commitments register is a list of every commitment made in an Environmental and Social Impact Assessment and its management plans, each with an owner, a deadline or frequency, and evidence of completion. It lets a mining project show lenders, regulators and communities that what was promised was actually done.
Why it matters
An ESIA can contain hundreds of commitments, spread across the main report, management plans, permit conditions and lender action plans. The IFC's handbook, Stakeholder Engagement: A Good Practice Handbook (2007), describes a commitments register as a good-practice tool, assigning timeframes and responsibility, and recommends building it into the ESIA documentation.
What to record for each commitment
| Field | Why it matters |
|---|---|
| Source and reference | The ESIA volume and page, management plan, permit condition or lender action plan it comes from. |
| The commitment, in plain language | What has to happen, written so the site team can act on it. |
| Category | For example water, biodiversity, resettlement, local employment or community health. |
| Project phase | Exploration, construction, operation or closure, since many commitments only apply in one. |
| Owner | The accountable role, including contractors where they carry out the work. |
| Deadline or frequency | A date, a recurring schedule, or the event that triggers it. |
| Evidence and status | What proves it was done, who verified it, and whether it is open or closed. |
| Linked actions | Related grievances, inspection findings and corrective actions. |
Five steps to build one
- Collect the sources. Gather the ESIA, management plans, permits, lender requirements and community agreements.
- Break them down. Record each specific action separately, not a whole chapter or plan.
- Remove duplicates. The same commitment often appears in several documents, so link the sources to one entry.
- Assign owners and evidence. Decide who is accountable and what will count as proof before work starts.
- Review it regularly. Update it when plans, permits or project phases change, and report status to lenders from it.
This is the same discipline as an obligations register, and you can start from our free template.
Where software helps, and its limits
CompliantMine tracks commitments as obligations with owners, due dates, attached evidence and corrective actions. It is in early access, and it focuses on tracking permit and ESIA obligations. If community engagement, grievances or resettlement are your main need, a dedicated stakeholder management tool may suit you better.
Frequently asked questions
What is an ESIA commitments register?
It is a list of every commitment made in an Environmental and Social Impact Assessment and its management plans, with an owner, a deadline or frequency, and evidence of completion. It lets a project show lenders, regulators and communities that promises were carried out.
Who needs an ESIA commitments register?
Any project with commitments to track, and especially mining projects with international lenders. The IFC's stakeholder engagement handbook describes a commitments register as a good-practice tool for following up on environmental and social commitments.
Can CompliantMine track ESIA commitments?
Yes. It tracks commitments as obligations with owners, due dates, evidence and corrective actions. Our public demo uses an Ontario approval rather than an ESIA, so ask us to test extraction on your own document, especially if it is scanned or not in English.