NEWS
09.02.12
Mining CEOs put sustainability on the corporate agenda
On Tuesday February 7, ICMM co-hosted its second annual CEO session at Investing in African Mining Indaba to discuss the common sustainability challenges the industry faces.
Three leading CEOs representing ICMM member companies – Mark Cutifani (AngloGold Ashanti), André Wilkens (African Rainbow Minerals) and Nick Holland (Gold Fields) – addressed an audience of over 500 delegates in a session moderated by Byron Kennedy, Director at Brunswick.
The CEOs discussed the complex range of sustainability issues facing their companies from an environmental, social and economic perspective. They placed particular emphasis on the top three sustainability issues their organizations face in Africa over the next 20 years.
“Climate change is definitely a priority for our company in terms of sustainability”, said André Wilkens. “Social upliftment is also a top priority of ours – specifically empowering communities, alleviating poverty and community health. Finally, we see logistics as being another extremely important issue, particularly when we look at the environmental and economic benefits of moving from road to rail transportation.”
“In terms of our perspective and priorities under the sustainability umbrella, number one would be resource nationalization and number two would be community development,” said Mark Cutifani. “The third spot would go to artisanal and small scale mining.”
Nick Holland also highlighted the issue of resource nationalism: “It has manifested itself in recent years within Africa and requires a commitment in a number of areas including investment in local communities and the localization of employment.” In addition, he signalled the safety of employees as a top priority in addition to energy costs and ensuring security of energy supply to the industry.
Byron Kennedy encouraged the CEOs to speak about the challenge of climate change, recognizing South Africa as one of the 20 biggest emitters of CO2. The panel spoke passionately about their positive contributions to resolving the climate change problem, recognizing that the industry can do more.
The panel was the first of two sessions convened by ICMM at the 2012 Mining Indaba and highlights the growing integration of sustainability with mainstream industry practices. It will be followed by a morning of multi-stakeholder discussions on Thursday, 9 February, where over 200 participants from civil society, government and industry are expected.
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