In the Philippines, progress is also being made on political promises. Last year, the Environment and Natural Resources Secretary stated her interest in shutting down the country’s mining industry as it causes significant environmental damage, an initiative supported even by the country’s President Duterte, who said the country could “survive without a mining industry.” Last week, the Philippines cancelled the environmental permit for four mining projects, for nickel, gold, coal, and iron and copper. This crackdown builds off a separate initiative that is conducting an environmental audit of the country’s mines; 10 mines have already been shut down, and another 20 are at risk. Concerns have been raised about the Philippine’s crackdown on mines: as the world’s largest supplier of nickel, the market is concerned about long-term price impacts of these mining bans. For the full story, see http://uk.reuters.com/article/us-philippines-mining-idUKKBN1520GO and http://www.reuters.com/article/us-philippines-mining-idUSKCN12E08I.