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Our sustainable development programme has become more deeply embedded in the company ethos during 2006.
Capacity to address this challenging topic is increasing at operational and corporate levels and the understanding of what is needed to create value simultaneously in the social, environmental, economic and financial spheres is growing.
Safety remains a primary focus and this message is at the forefront of all aspects of our sustainable development programme.
We believe that we have put in place the right foundation on which much improved safety performance can be based.
Meaningful progress was made in the fields of energy, biodiversity and water management as well as in the social arena where human rights and socio-economic assessment took centre stage. Materials stewardship, international management of chemicals and the need to extend responsibility and accountability beyond operational boundaries have impacted on how we work with our economic partners.
Climate change was, perhaps, the newsmaker of the year. We are working at many levels to address this challenge, particularly through international partnerships that will push the development of cleaner technologies and the capture and storage of carbon.
This report is focused around the key challenges and risks identified by the Group and of concern to stakeholders.
The key to sustainable development is the uptake of its principles into every aspect of the way we do business. It is, therefore, essential to build the understanding of professionals in many disciplines within the Group.
During 2006, we gave further training to project and design engineers to equip them with additional skills in assessing the impacts of less quantifiable sustainable development criteria on a project’s return on investment. The methodology also compares the potential returns of a project which would be constructed incorporating the principles of sustainability, against a benchmark technology, process or location. Engineers in South Africa and Chile have already been trained. We hope to conduct two sessions in Australia in 2007, further sessions in South Africa and provide web-based support for engineers who have already been trained.
We have made excellent progress in developing and testing tools to assist in planning mines with an eye to a sustainable future, enabling us to close them on time, leaving behind opportunity and reduced liability.
An introductory programme was developed for professionals from other disciplines and newcomers to the Group who need to understand the principles, challenges and opportunities associated with sustainable development. This is in addition to specialised training on security and human rights and the use of our socio-economic assessment toolbox.
We are in the process of reviewing our sustainable development policy framework to ensure consistency and ease of application across the Group.
We work in a number of partnerships with communities, NGOs, international agencies and governments to contribute to building effective and efficient responses to many issues. In 2006, close collaboration was undertaken with Business Action for Africa, the ICMM and the WBCSD on a variety of projects, from those promoting international policy change to those developing best practice norms. These projects include:
- continuing to press for delivery of the commitments made by the G8 governments at Gleneagles in 2005, including a successful outcome to the Doha ‘Development’ trade round
- developing and testing the ICMM’s resource endowment project, and
- working with other members of the WBCSD on collaborative projects on development, measuring development impact and small business development.
At regional and local levels, we play an active role in complementing the development objectives of government and forming focused partnerships with state bodies, other companies and community-based organisations.
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