On 3rd and 4th December, the Natural History Museum (London, UK), with co-organisers INFACT and Pacific projects, hosted a series of six online sessions that debated and discussed mining and its role in society. These sessions, listed below, were each led by speakers from diverse personal and professional backgrounds, and members of the general public who had signed up online.
The fifth session, Who decides?, explored the importance of ESG (Environment, Social and Governance) in mine planning, and was facilitated by Satarla Associate, Cathryn McCallum, with breakout groups moderated by Satarla CEO, Dr Sarah Gordon, and Satarla Associate, Ruth Allington, Ed O'Keefe and Mark Proctor.
This session examined a simulated mining and exploration project through 4 lenses:
Environmental Scenario (Ruth Allington)
Governance Scenario (Mark Proctor)
Indigenous People Scenario (Ed O'Keefe)
Shared Value Scenario (Sarah Gordon)
The session concluded with each group presenting three key ideas from their breakout groups, and a common thread emerged of a need for greater transparency and better communication to build trust with all stakeholders at the outset. ESG should not be an after thought, and needs to be integrated into enterprise wide risk management for decision making by leadership, management and front line operations.
A triple bottom line approach in which the mining industry puts the people, planet and profit in equal measure would ensure responsible and sustainable operations and provide a greener world.
Other sessions from this conference: