Devising a successful business strategy by addressing the environmental and social challenges faced by mining companies will be one of the main focus points of this year’s Investing in African Mining Indaba’s sustainable development segment.

The conference’s sustainable development leg, which will be cohosted by the event organisers and the International Council on Mining and Metals (ICMM), will comprise two sessions, the CEO panel, Linking Strategy to Sustainability, on February 7, and the Sustainable Development session, on February 9.

ICMM senior programme officer and organiser of the sessions Casilda Malagon says, during the CEO panel, the CEOs of South Africa-based ICMM member mining companies will discuss the link between their different approaches to sustainable development issues and their business strategies.

She adds that AngloGold Ashanti’s Mark Cutifani, Gold Fields’ Nick Holland and African Rainbow Minerals’ Andre Wilkens will discuss their com- panies’ approach to integrating the challenges of sustainability with core business practices.

“They will look at how a mining CEO takes the environmental and social impacts of a company’s operations into consideration when formulating long-term plans. As social equity, long-term economic growth and environmental protection become interlinked with a company’s value proposition, the contribution of that company to its host country grows,” she states.

The second session, Sus- tainable Development, will pick up on the roadmap that will be laid out at the first session and will look at the issues identified in more depth. The session is open to the public and is free of charge.

“During the session, sustainable development issues will be discussed with the wider mining, development and investment communities,” notes Malagon.

Gold Fields chairperson Dr Mamphela Ramphele, who was honoured with the Leadership in Practice award by the University of South Africa Graduate School of Business Leadership, in November, will open the proceedings with a keynote address on the mining sector’s contribution to sustainable development. Ramphele is also the first African to hold the posi- tion of MD of the World Bank.

“With her life-long commitment to Africa’s development and her first-hand knowledge of the industry, she is well placed to discuss the role of the mining and metals industry in the continent’s social and economic growth,” Malagon states.

Further, ICMM director Aidan Davy will moderate a panel that will examine the future of multistakeholder initiatives, which are schemes that involve nongovernmental organisations (NGOs), multilateral organisations and companies working together to improve environmental and social performance.

“Initiatives, such as the UK’s Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI) and the UK and US’s Voluntary Principles for Human Rights and Security, gained prominence in the 1990s and have become increasingly important,” Malagon states.

However, critics of these initiatives have pointed out substantive areas that need to be improved.

“With the US and Australia joining the EITI and campaign group Global Witness pulling out of the Kimberley Process – a joint government, industry and civil society initiative to stem the flow of conflict diamonds – the ICMM believes that this is a good time to review what has worked well and consider ways of improving these initiatives,” she points out.

To this end, EITI chair Clare Short will join US-based NGO The Fund for Peace executive director Krista Hendry, the Inter- national Finance Corporation Sustainable Business Advisory Services unit’s Monika Weber-Fahr and global miner Anglo American head of government relations Hugh Elliott in an interactive discussion.

Further, International Union for Conservation of Nature programme officer Dennis Hosack, the United Nations Environment Programme’s World Conservation Monitoring Centre director Jon Hutton, mining group Rio Tinto’s global head of Health, Safety, Environment & Communities Peter Cunningham and World Wide Fund for Nature CE for South Africa Morné du Plessis will participate in a discussion panel entitled Strange Bedfellows? Mining and Conservation.

“The title springs from the common misconception that environmental organisations and mining companies can only interact as adversaries. In reality, they each have a role to play in providing society with the materials it needs while taking care of the environment. How- ever, this collaborative relationship does not come without its challenges and setbacks, which will be explored in the discussion,” Malagon says.

She stresses that, over the next 20 years, the African mining industry will face many challenges, apart from managing the long-term environmental impact of their operations. Achieving community development, taking care of the health and safety of mineworkers, adapting to climate change targets and the implementation of international best practices in terms of human rights will continue to be addressed by companies.

“The participation of the industry in the seventeenth Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, in Durban, demonstrated that mining has an active role in devising solutions that keep the industry competitive in the transition to a low-carbon economy,” she asserts.

Further, ICMM president Anthony Hodge states: “The ICMM hopes to be true to its mandate at the Indaba and use it as a catalyst for improving the sustainability performance of its members and the wider mining and metals industry. The council aims to highlight the positive impact that mining can have on socio-economic development in minerals-dependent countries.”

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