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Transparency in the mining and metals sector is increasing, the International Council on Mining and Metals (ICMM) and the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) have announced.
The two bodies say a growing number of ICMM member companies are disclosing social and environmental data, and 17 out of 18 reported in line with GRI standards last year. The figures are given in a performance assessment published in the ICMM’s 2010 annual review.
‘We have seen a significant rise in the level and quality of sustainability reporting among ICMM members this year,’ said president Anthony Hodge. ‘This is encouraging both in terms of the work being done by ICMM, but also as a reflection of a growing culture of transparency in the industry.’
Fifteen out of 18 companies obtained GRI’s A+ application level, signifying that they reported on all the indicators required in the GRI mining and metals sector supplement and sought independent third party assurance. In 2009 only eight companies reported to this level. The supplement was developed by GRI in partnership with ICMM.
GRI’s 2010 figures reveal a 12 per cent increase, from 103 in the previous year to 115, in reporting among mining and metals companies.
More than half (62) of these reports now follow the sector-specific guidelines.
ICMM represents many of the sector’s largest companies. All member companies must report in line with the GRI guidelines and the sector supplement, and must implement the ICMM’s ten sustainable development principles.
Mining company chief executives have called for CSR to be ‘integrated into corporate DNA’, and for businesses in the industry to ‘embrace the issues of conservation and sustainability in this era of transparency’.
In a Cape Town meeting convened by the ICMM, the bosses of African Barrick Gold, AngloGold Ashanti and Gold Fields told delegates that ‘successfully addressing the social and environmental challenges of sustainability is essential to achieving our longer-term strategic growth objectives’.
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