Country for PR: United Kingdom
Contributor: PR Newswire Europe
Thursday, June 16 2022 - 08:00
AsiaNet
ICMM ACCELERATES RESPONSIBLE MINING AGENDA ON 20-YEAR ANNIVERSARY
LONDON, June 16, 2022 /PRNewswire-AsiaNet/ --

 - ICMM sets out an ambitious strategy that prioritises ambitious collective 
action by a third of the mining and metals industry on environmental 
resilience, social performance, governance and transparency, and innovation
- ICMM's Council adopts strengthened commitments on Diversity, Equity, and 
Inclusion (DEI) as an important step in addressing discrimination of all forms 
in our workplaces and societies.

    Today, ICMM marks 20 years since the Toronto Declaration, the process which 
set out the founding principles of the organisation. ICMM recommits to decisive 
and principled leadership through an ambitious new strategy for the next three 
years. Through this strategy, and working in collaboration with others, ICMM is 
aiming for breakthrough progress on environmental resilience, social 
performance, governance and transparency, and innovation – in pursuit of a 
safe, just, and sustainable world enabled by responsibly produced metals and 
minerals. 


    ICMM's three-year strategy 
[https://www.icmm.com/website/publications/pdfs/mining-principles/sap-22-24.pdf]
 involves 12 major initiatives across four key areas:

    - Environmental Resilience – delivering our net zero commitment announced 
in 2021 [https://www.icmm.com/en-gb/news/2021/net-zero-commitment]; further 
improving water management at site-level and maximising the industry's 
contribution to a nature positive future.
    - Social Performance – playing a leading role in creating diverse, 
equitable and inclusive workplaces and societies; further strengthening 
approaches to upholding and enhancing human rights, particularly the rights and 
interests of Indigenous Peoples, and supporting the resilience of communities 
to thrive in a changing, climate-impacted world.
    - Governance and Transparency – leading the convergence of ESG standards; 
supporting the maximisation of benefits of mining for host countries through 
disclosure and transparency; enhancing practices for responsible and 
sustainable mine closure and driving implementation of the Global Industry 
Standard on Tailings Management across the industry.
    - Innovation – accelerating innovation in tailings to reduce waste; 
supporting the development of a circular economy; and pursuing a step-change in 
eliminating fatalities towards the goal of zero harm.

    Rohitesh Dhawan, President and Chief Executive Officer, ICMM, said: "For 
the world at large, the next three years will shape the outlook for the next 
thirty. To achieve a net zero economy by 2050, decarbonisation technologies 
must be deployed at an unprecedented scale in the near term. Metals and 
minerals are the backbone of these solutions and are in many cases in short 
supply, but it is our fundamental belief 'how' these are produced is as, if not 
more important than 'how much'.

    "ICMM's strategy sets an ambitious agenda that focuses on issues where the 
mining industry can make the biggest contributions related to society's 
greatest challenges. These are also areas where the collective leadership of 
our 26 members, representing a third of the global industry, will be critical 
to push the boundaries of responsible and sustainable mining."

    2022 marks 20 years since the Toronto Declaration – when, after a two-year 
global dialogue and engagement exercise, the ICMM Council of CEOs set in motion 
an agenda to enhance mining's contribution to social and economic development. 
Since then, collective action on key sustainability challenges has been taken 
including the commitment not to mine or explore in World Heritage sites, 
development of the Global Industry Standard on Tailings Management, and the 
recent landmark climate commitment of net zero Scope 1 and 2 GHG emissions by 
2050 or sooner.

    Raising standards on Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI)

    ICMM is also announcing updates to the Mining Principles that aim to 
support improved company performance on diversity, equity and inclusion. These 
important updates include reinforcing the integral role of DEI to sustainable 
development, additional actions to eliminate all forms of harassment and unfair 
discrimination from our workplaces, proactive steps to achieve gender equality 
and the unincumbered participation of all peoples, and cementing the importance 
of psychological safety alongside physical health and safety in our efforts to 
achieve zero harm.

    Rohitesh Dhawan said: "Discrimination, harassment and assault of any kind 
have no place in the mining industry or anywhere else in society. We recognise 
that the change starts with us, especially since we as an industry have not yet 
managed to build truly diverse, equitable and inclusive workplaces.

    The updates to our Mining Principles – the standards that guide everyday 
practice for our members – are a critical step in improving performance. But we 
will not stop here. ICMM will continue to work together and with external 
stakeholders to eliminate all forms of bullying, harassment and unfair 
discrimination from our workplaces and societies."

    Notes to editors

    -  A timeline of ICMM's historic milestones can be found here 
[http://www.icmm.com/our-story/who-we-are]
    -  You can view and download ICMM's 3-year strategy here 
[https://www.icmm.com/en-gb/about-us/our-strategy]

    About ICMM

    ICMM [http://www.icmm.com/] stands for mining with principles. We bring 
together a third of the global metals and mining industry, along with key 
partners to drive leadership, action and innovation for sustainable 
development, ultimately delivering a positive contribution to society. Through 
collaboration, ICMM member companies set the standard for responsibly produced 
minerals and metals in a safe, just and sustainable world.

Media Contact:

    In London: 
    Molly Stewart 
    molly.stewart@icmm.com  
    +44 (0) 788 777 8794

    In Toronto: 
    Kira Scharwey 
    Kira.Scharwey@icmm.com  
    +44 (0) 7483 092315

    Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1840242/ICMM_Logo.jpg
    PDF: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1840243/icmm_timeline.pdf

    Source: ICMM