PDAC 2015 Community Engagement: never too early, never too often

Who knew anthropologists were so much fun? Sunday afternoon’s CSR stream began with a session, Respecting human rights during the exploration phase. Two of the three panellists were anthropologists by education and training, although currently working in mining. The session managed to be both interesting and amusing, with many anecdotes that both brought a laugh and taught a lesson.

Alison Colwell of Business for Social Responsibility, (the non anthropologist) began with an overview of the Ruggie Principles, and the Protect, Respect, Remedy framework. Although the Principles are not legally binding Ms. Colwell felt that ‘the court of public opinion’ has led many companies to adopt them.

She identified 6 best practices in the area of respecting human rights,

1)Be respectful; treat people fairly. This is particularly important for the exploration team as they are often the first people on the ground

2)Engage early, engage often

3)Recognize that human rights due diligence must be integrated as early as possible -  in the country risk assessment, in initial MOUs, in stakeholder mapping etc.

4)Train staff and contractors about what is expected of them

5)Encourage and incentivize all staff to flag potential human rights issues

6)Have one person responsible for human rights

Next up was a conversation between Chris Anderson of Rio Tinto and France Bourgouin of BSR.

"Increasingly, weirdos like us are getting hired by mining companies” began Dr. Anderson. “When I was last at PDAC, about 10 years ago, there was maybe 5 minutes on CSR in the whole week.” The idea of thinking about people, about communities, about behaviour, moving beyond strictly technical issues has taken hold in mining companies, many of whom acknowledge the concept of a social license to operate.

Is the exploration stage too early to start thinking about human rights or community engagement? Definitely not.  Dr. Anderson felt that “they (the exploration team) need to understand the lens of human rights because that’s how the project is going to be seen by the rest of the world.”

When asked about the challenge of securing resources for ‘the soft stuff’ at a time when mining companies are struggling, Dr. Anderson quipped “‘My motto is ‘soft is hard'. In today’s world digging the ore out of the ground is the easy stuff. Above ground social issues are the challenge.”

In the 1950’s health and safety issues began to be raised, resulting in the education and training of health and safety professionals. Then in the 1970s, environmental issues were addressed, again creating new academic programmes and professional qualifications. Over the last 10 years, we can see the nascent professionalization of dealing with the social impacts of mining. 

Dr. Anderson stated, “It’s still early days in getting mining companies to recognize human rights.” However, there was agreement that with more interdisciplinary training there would be a broader spectrum of mining professionals who understand that mining is not just about geology, it’s also about people.

The session concluded with a few thoughts on what needs to be done - demystify human rights, integrate human rights due diligence into what you are already doing in exploration, offer more interdisciplinary training to people interested in pursuing a career in mining.

  

 

Cluster munitions ban aims to spark human rights discussions in Canada’s investment community

Originally published on RIA Canada website

Critics might say it’s nothing more than a symbolic gesture. But it could have wide-ranging implications for Canada’s investment industry.

Last week, two of Canada’s investment firms announced they were banning companies involved in cluster munitions. The companies involved, NEI Investment and Desjardins, have SRI fund families, which already exclude cluster munitions. But this move goes a step further, banning cluster munitions manufacturers in all of their investment products.

The companies decided to publicize the move, after studying the Canadian government’s Cluster Munitions Act, which contains a provision banning the “aiding and abetting” of the manufacturer of cluster munitions, says Michelle de Cordova, Director of Corporate Engagement & Public Policy at NEI Investments.

“We read this and thought, wow, that’s pretty unusual, it’s not every day that the government appears to be attempting to forbid everybody from investing in something,” she says.

As well, there has been little discussion of the clause in the Canadian investment industry, de Cordova adds. “How many people even know that that this is the will of the Parliament?”

 “We hadn’t seen any discussions, we hadn’t been involved in any discussions on this topic, that’s the point we decided we needed to go live on this and tell as many people as possible that this provision is in the act and that Parliament also thinks it means investment,” she adds.

In addition to drawing attention to the issue, NEI’s cluster munitions policy could be a blueprint for other companies interested in making a similar move, she adds.

The next step for NEI is writing to all cluster munitions manufacturers around the world, explaining to them that they have been excluded from Northwest funds, NEI’s mainstream fund family, and explaining why, at the same time encouraging them to get out of that area of manufacturing.

De Cordova admits banning cluster munitions in investments might be a challenge for some Canadian financial firms, particularly those who do not have an in-house ESG team, or any type of RI policy. But the ban could at least get a discussion started, de Cordova hopes.

 “What do you do if you are running index funds, does this apply in that situation? It’s trying to get some clarity on what a Canada-wide prohibition on cluster munitions would actually look like.”

Advisor support

Carol Smith, an advisor with Desjardins Financial Security Investments in Mississauga, Ont., says she strongly supports the cluster munitions ban.

“When I saw commercials with kids with their limbs blown off, I was horrified,” Smith says. “So when I saw that Desjardins and NEI Investments have decided to ban these from their entire investment lineup, I thought that was very admirable.”

 “It’s encouraging that they have taken this stand. I tip my hat to them; I think it is great.”

Human rights agenda

NEI’s de Cordova says the Canadian government’s move to make cluster munitions illegal raises questions about other human rights-related issues.

She points to the United Nations Guiding Principles for Business and Human Rights, which state that there is an absolute duty on all companies to respect human rights, including a due diligence process: 

”Making sure that you are not implicated in human rights abuses, or if someone in your supply chain is implicated, that you should take steps and use the leverage you have to try and address that issue.”

Since the UN’s convention also applies to the investment community, NEI has raised the issue with the United Nations Principles for Responsible Investment.

“If there is an absolute duty on companies to respect human rights, the implication there is that there might be some issues where on the ESG side, where an investor has to take action on the issue,” she says. “Maybe it’s not exclusion, maybe it’s engagement, but some type of action. We haven’t really had a satisfactory answer to that question.”

Still, opening a dialogue on cluster munitions is a good start, de Cordova says, particularly for those investment companies who have yet to even consider whether they are onside with Canadian law.

“I think we might find new issues emerging, we are right at the beginning of this discussion.”