July 2005, Minerals Council of Australia (MCA)
The future of the Australian minerals industry is inseparable from the global pursuit of sustainable development. Through the integration of economic progress, responsible social development and effective environmental management, the industry is committed to contributing to the sustained growth and prosperity of current and future generations.
Foundation to the industry’s commitment is the concept of a ‘social licence to operate’. Simply defined the ‘social licence to operate’ is an unwritten social contract. Unless a company earns that licence, and maintains it on the basis of good performance on the ground, and community trust, there will undoubtedly be negative implications. Communities may seek to block project developments; employees may chose to work for a company that is a better corporate citizen; and projects may be subject to ongoing legal challenge, even after regulatory permits have been obtained, potentially halting project development.
The Australian minerals industry strongly supports the role of a ‘social licence to operate’ as a complement to a regulatory licence issued by government. To the minerals industry ‘social licence to operate’ is about operating in a manner that is attuned to community expectations and which acknowledges that businesses have a shared responsibility with government, and more broadly society, to help facilitate the development of strong and sustainable communities.
To harness the industry’s commitment to sustainable development within a strategic framework, the International Council on Mining and Metals (ICMM) adopted a set of sustainable development principles in May 2003. This is the global industry’s commitment to manage social, health, safety, environmental and economic issues in order to deliver sustainable shareholder value; and to both improve its performance in managing these issues and to publicly report industry’s progress in doing so.
To give practical and operational effect to these commitments, the Australian minerals industry has developed Enduring Value – the Australian Minerals Industry Framework for Sustainable Development. Enduring Value builds on the Australian Minerals Industry Code for Environmental Management – the platform for industry’s continual improvement in managing environmental issues since its introduction in 1996.
Like environmental management, implementing sustainable development principles requires us to think about relationships in complex systems with effects that play out over many years and great distances. Enduring Value – the Australian Minerals Industry Framework for Sustainable Development is designed to help minerals industry managers implement the industry’s commitment in a practical and operational manner that is targeted at the site level.
The Implementation Guidance for Enduring Value provides guidance statements on the operation of each Element, and cross-referencing between the Elements. These guidance statements are the result of an engagement process with about one thousand individuals associated with the industry and the communities in which it operates.
Please note the Guidance does not prescribe particular management systems or standards for sites. Instead the Guidance shares opinions and knowledge garnered from competent people about what needs to be done. In the real world, managers constantly learn how to apply general ideas in particular contexts.
It is also important to note that some of the Elements contained in Enduring Value may be of more relevance in an international context than they are in Australian conditions. Examples of such Elements include human rights training for security personnel and the use of facilitation payments.
The Guidance points to some free web-based tools managers can use. The tools are located on the Minerals Council of Australia’s (MCA) website.
