Abstract The artisanal and small-scale mining (ASM) sector in Guyana has, over the last decade, become the main engine for economic growth, the key source of foreign exchange and a vital source of employment across the country. It has therefore served as a vital driver in alleviating poverty and helping the country to make progress on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) relating to poverty and economic growth. At the same time, however, the sector has contributed to significant levels of deforestation and water pollution, threatening progress on other SDGs. In this paper we develop a framework that allows an evaluation of the impact of the sector upon progress towards a variety of the relevant SDGS and their accompanying targets and indicators. We extend this framework by presenting valuations of the environmental and social impacts from the ASM sector and compare this to the economic benefit from the sector in terms of contribution to GDP, foreign exchange, taxation and indirect employment benefits, allowing us to understand the trade-offs involved in the use of the ASM sector as a tool for achieving the SDGs. Our assessment shows prominent economic benefits crucial for the country to achieve the economic related SDG targets but at a significant social and environmental cost that will hinder the country achieving the social and ecological SDG targets. The framework presented in this paper can thus be used to identify policy areas that need prioritizing in order to address the social and ecological costs associated with ASM whilst maintaining and possibly improving the economic prosperity it provides.

中文翻译：

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评估小规模采矿对圭亚那实现可持续发展目标的影响

摘要 在过去十年中，圭亚那的手工和小规模采矿 (ASM) 部门已成为该国经济增长的主要引擎、外汇的主要来源和重要的就业来源。因此，它是减轻贫困和帮助该国在与贫困和经济增长相关的可持续发展目标（SDG）方面取得进展的重要推动力。然而，与此同时，该部门造成了严重的森林砍伐和水污染，威胁到其他可持续发展目标的进展。在本文中，我们开发了一个框架，可以评估该部门对实现各种相关 SDGS 及其相关目标和指标的进展的影响。我们通过呈现 ASM 部门的环境和社会影响估值来扩展该框架，并将其与该部门在 GDP、外汇、税收和间接就业利益方面的经济利益进行比较，使我们能够了解贸易-使用手工和小规模采矿部门作为实现可持续发展目标的工具。我们的评估显示，显着的经济效益对于该国实现与经济相关的 SDG 目标至关重要，但其巨大的社会和环境成本将阻碍该国实现社会和生态 SDG 目标。