A blend of development and commercial finance should make for lower interest rates, less risk aversity and more developmental focus of financing packages. This chapter discusses the complexities of blended finance and a few of the key lessons learned.

This chapter explores the theme of innovation and IP use in the mining industry by providing a foreign direct investment (FDI) angle. It highlights the role of mining multinational enterprises (MNEs), both as main actors of international production and in their links with host countries’ government and social and economic context. The development implications of FDI spillovers seem critical in the mining industry where the bulk of investment takes place in developing countries, often the least developed countries. The chapter describes the mining FDI ecosystem: key MNE players, recent trends and outlook and investment policy directions. It discusses the different types of impacts that mining FDI can have on host countries, with a particular view towards poor and vulnerable economies.

Among the social challenges facing humanity, population and migration are at the root of many problems. Globalization has very significantly advanced across a range of areas, except with respect to the free movement of people. Extreme inequality has maintained rapid population growth in some regions, while in others the falling birth rate is leading to a rapid aging of the population. The anticipated global population of up to 11 billion in this century could only be supported with fundamental changes in lifestyles, consumption patterns, social relationships, institutions and value systems towards social justice and equity. Regional and global carrying capacities must be respected. Migration should be seen not as a threat but as an opportunity for both migrants and receiving communities. Large-scale, environmentally induced migrations can be anticipated and planned for to reduce human suffering.