『Abstract
The mining and minerals industry faces some of the most difficult
sustainability challenges of any industrial sector. To secure
its continued ‘social licence’ to operate, the industry must respond
to these challenges by engaging its many different stakeholders
and addressing their sustainability concerns. The industry must
also be able to measure and assess its sustainability performance
and to demonstrate continuous improvements over long term. The
mining and minerals sector has already started responding to some
of the sustainability challenges, as demonstrated by the Mining,
Minerals and Sustainable Development (MMSD) project.
Following the findings of MMSD, this paper aims to contribute
to these activities at the sectoral level through a development
of a framework for sustainability indicators as a tool for performance
assessment and improvements. The indicators have been developed
specifically for metallic, construction and industrial minerals,
but may also be suitable for some energy minerals, particularly
coal. The framework comprises economic, environmental, social
and integrated indicators, which can be used both internally,
for identification of ‘hot spots’ and externally, for sustainability
reporting and stakeholder engagement. In an attempt to help standardise
corporate reports and enable cross-comparisons, the framework
is compatible with the general indicators proposed by the Global
Reporting Initiative (GRI); however, a number of sector-specific
indicators have also been developed to reflect the characteristics
of the industry.
Keywords: Mining; Minerals; Industry; Sustainable development;
Indicators』
1. Introduction
2. A framework for sustainable development indicators for the
mining and minerals industry
2.1. Overview of the industry
2.2. Industry stakeholders
2.2.1. Employees
2.2.2. Trade unions
2.2.3. Contractors
2.2.4. Suppliers
2.2.5. Customers
2.2.6. Shareholders
2.2.7. Creditors
2.2.8. Insurers
2.2.9. Local communities
2.2.10. Local authorities
2.2.11. Governments
2.2.12. NGOs
2.3. Sustainability issues
2.3.1. Economic issues
2.3.2. Environmental issues
2.3.3. Social issues
2.4. The framework for sustainability indicators
2.4.1. Economic indicators
2.4.2. Environmental indicators
2.4.3. Social indicators
2.4.4. Integrated indicators
3. Conclusions
Acknowledgements
References