Members of the International Council on Mining and Metals (ICMM) have made a collective commitment to improve diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) in the mining and metals industry and positively influence the communities that mining companies are a part of.

ICMM members have committed to working together to improve the experience of all workers and eradicate discrimination, harassment and assault from their workplaces. 

"While we have seen good progress by individual companies, this collective commitment aims to prioritise and accelerate collaborative efforts to eliminate discrimination, harassment and assault. This is so we can build psychologically safe and truly diverse, equitable and inclusive workplaces in the mining industry.

"It is not only our solemn duty to do so, but the only way to attract and retain the talent essential to grow responsible mining at the huge scale that is required. This is why I am calling on the wider industry, alongside our members, to join us in this collective effort to drive the progress needed,” says ICMM president and CEO Rohitesh Dhawan.

Members have committed to take four actions by the end of 2024 to achieve its DEI goals. The first action involves accelerating individual and collective action to eliminate harmful behaviours from workplaces and communities. This includes developing a roadmap that will outline the direction of the actions being taken and set out key milestones to help achieve agreed goals.

The second action will be to set individual and collective goals, relevant to operating contexts, to eliminate all forms of harassment and discriminatory behaviours. This will help to demonstrate progress.

Third will be to disclose aggregated performance against these goals in accordance with the ICMM’s Social and Economic Reporting Framework. This includes disaggregating data by gender and ethnicity, where possible, to help assess the progress being made.  

Lastly, the members will work together with companies, industry associations, underrepresented groups, communities, investors and others to advocate for and find solutions to the challenges relating to DEI in the industry.

“Demonstrating our commitment and taking action on these critical issues is aligned with our vision of safe, inclusive and sustainable workplaces. No one should ever feel harassed, threatened or discriminated at work. We know our actions are key to earning the trust of our employees and stakeholders. We must ask ourselves the question – what more can I personally do and what more can we do together?

"Working collectively as a membership and with others to overcome the barriers to diversity, equity and inclusion, we can eliminate harmful behaviours from our workplaces, and influence positive cultural change in communities and across society,” says ICMM Council Social Performance Council Advisory Group chairperson and Newmont Corporation CEO Tom Palmer.