Business

On 26 March, the Canadian government unveiled a series of measures to promote corporate social responsibility (CSR) in the extractive sector.

Global leaders from business, labor and civil society today declared their belief that the lack of transparency in the existing system for corporate reporting has failed its stakeholders. In issuing The Amsterdam Declaration on Transparency and Reporting, Board Members of the Global Reporting Initiative called on governments to introduce policies requiring companies to address publicly environmental, social and governance (ESG) factors.

Many oil and mining companies are slashing investments as commodity prices collapse. For their own sake, the socio-political fall out will need to be sensitively managed.

After several years of headlong expansion, big oil and mining companies are pulling up abruptly. Soaring commodity prices, which during the past year have broken records in markets from crude oil to copper, have slumped across the board since July 2008.

Together with the impact of the credit crunch on project finance, this drop has forced scores of extractive companies to cut back on new investments and scale down production at many existing operations.

Experts in Responsible Investment Solutions (EIRIS) report on responsible business practices finds insufficient ESG risk management and inadequate disclosure and advocates PRI involvement for responsible investors.

A joint IFC-Lonmin supplier development program that supports sustainable growth in mining communities in South Africa has taken top prize in the socio-economic category at the Nedbank Green Mining Awards, which celebrates responsible mining.

The Business Case

Petro-Canada’s Fort Hills Oil Sands mining operation is expected to mine more than four billion barrels of bitumen over the next three to four decades, with rates of up to 280,000 barrels of synthetic crude oil per day. In order to address the obvious environmental concerns surrounding the project, Petro-Canada is committed to sustaining the environmental integrity of the area, leaving as small an environmental footprint as possible and providing offsets to compensate for permanently impacted areas. An environmental protection plan will ensure this is the case. Petro-Canada will not mine a drop of oil within the fen complex until the mining and protection plan is completed and approved, a fact that will support the company’s license to operate in the area and throughout the country. 

Stakeholders in the mining sector within the sub-region are putting in place a harmonized mining code that will ensure that respective countries maximize the full benefit of their natural resources.

As community investment becomes more strategic, companies want to know what impact their activities are having on society.

SocialFunds.com, 25 August 2008 - Corporate boards can and should influence their companies' social and environmental performances finds a new report.

Press Release- UK company Afrimex breached the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises by purchasing minerals from a war-torn region of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), the British government has found.

In a final statement published August 28, 2008, the British government upheld the majority of the allegations contained in the 2007 complaint by Global Witness, a UK-based organisation which campaigns to break the links between the natural resources and armed conflict.

This is a letter sent by John Ruggie - Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General on Business and Human Rights - to the Financial Times, commenting on the Afrimex case and, more generall, on the business case for respect of human rights.

Geneva, 1 September 2008 - Specialists from different segments of business, the media and academia came together in Brazil at the 4th annual roundtable on sustainability and corporate responsibility to discuss and debate the role that communications plays in a company's sustainability. Organized by the Business Council for Sustainable Development Brazil (CEBDS), the event was held on 13 August 2008.

The International Herald Tribune, August 30, 2008 - Africa is more democratic today than at any point since the start of decolonialization. The amount of aid flowing to the continent, exceeding $30 billion, has never been greater. And the global commodities boom has fuelled high economic growth rates, averaging 6.6 percent across sub-Saharan Africa.

John Ruggie explains why, at this time, a global treaty forcing companies to follow binding rules on human rights would not work and should not happen, despite calls from campaigners.