CommDev (and In-Flux)

A missed gem on my Resources list. I came across CommDev again when I found this relatively new (slow blogging plagues me)  resource on the massive challenge of in-migration and in-flux on major projects: A Handbook for Addressing Project-Induced In-Migration. A little planning goes a long way. It is still in draft form so I am sure comments will be welcome before a final draft.

Las Bambas Independent Advisory Group

Researching some sustainability reports this week, I learned about an Xstrata initiative in Peru to create an Independent Advisory Group on the Las Bambas mine. I can’t comment on the performance from my London-desk, but given the recent turmoil in Peru, it was good to see a company working hard to set up a more accountable system.

I have seen (and helped set up) community consultation committees, but this really is the next step up. I especially appreciate the explicit discussion of how new people can apply and the practical arrangements. Community oversight always seems like an obvious idea, but there are always lurking issues, conflicts of interest and hidden agendas. Being explicit about assumptions and reporting (here is the report on activities from 2005-2007) is the only way to deal with those issues.

A challenge in thinking this through, however, is how smaller companies might apply some of the principles to set up similar initiatives when there are not as many resources to spend on such a group. I also wonder if the participants and the initiators feel like it is the most effective use of time and money.

Congo Conflict Minerals Act of 2009

Metals derived from inhumanely mined minerals go into electronic products used by millions of Americans. In the Democratic Republic of Congo, many people – especially women and children – are victimized by armed groups who are trying to make a profit from mining ‘conflict minerals.’ The legislation introduced today brings accountability and transparency to the supply chain of minerals used in the manufacturing of many electronic devices. I hope the legislation will help save lives.

So stated US Senator Sam Brownback.

Here’s an NGO opinion on the issue.

Efforts for transparency are needed, but I have wondered whether legislation in one country is enough to deal with such a complex issue. Doesn’t something like this need industry buy-in on top of nation led initiatives?

“CSR” and the Financial Crisis

This article, “Social Concerns are Crunched Off the Agenda”, has been sitting on tab in my browser for months, bad blogger that I have been.

I don’t have a lot to say this. But from the opening line, the author suggests that our financial crisis is creating huge problems for “corporate social responsibility”. The problem is that, like Economist’s of the past, the author assumes CSR is some voluntary nicety that companies partake in when business is going well. This goes against efforts, including my own humble ones, to draw attention to the obligatory elements of this what I prefer to call “corporate responsibility”. This is very much at the core of the financial crisis and I would say that the fact that many CSR professionals haven’t discussed pay and incentive issues or discussions on how to treat customers (examples from the article) highlights the problems of CSR rhetoric more than proof that social concerns are going away.

Big Dams: Bulldozers and Sustainable Development 101

The debate for me isn’t electricity or no electricity for the Gilgel Gibe III Dam in Ethiopia, recently highlighted on the BBC’s Crossing Continents. It is about electricity with appropriate study of the impacts or electricity that makes the same mistakes as similar projects. The key question is: What’s appropriate? Might it be slower? Yes. More costly? In the short-run, for sure; but in the long-run, how can anyone possibly know?

Are these appropriate studies? I have no idea at first glance, but it serves as a very current course/case study. Here’s an advocacy side from International Rivers. I was really curious to see that Facebook also has a flurry of activity on this topic.

And this allows us to consider public consultation, but the radio show clearly highlights that a lot of people don’t feel like they have been heard.

This is a complex story, but very worth exploring. Unfortunately, the key actor, the Italian contractor, isn’t interviewed on the radio program. The report mentions that the World Bank isn’t funding this, but one might ask where the money is coming from.

Anyone who has additional information? Please share!

China vs. West in Africa

So my heading is a bit over dramatic. This is an interesting development. Being interested in sustainable development, I don’t think it is important to worry about the nationality of the investment. But I do worry about how responsible it is.

I was please to read this article today, “As Chinese Investment in Africa Drops, Hope Sinks” (also a bit over dramatic). While I don’t find lost hope something to celebrate, the article pleases me since it shows that natural resource extraction won’t be simply a race to the bottom when it comes to environmental and social development. There are glimmers that exploitation, regardless of nationality, will be rejected by Guinea.

Hamidou Condé works bare-chested under the relentless sun, digging a hole for the foundation of a new hospital being built by a Chinese company, yet another symbol of Chinese-Guinean friendship.

Mr. Condé, 35, who has two wives and four children, said that he had been digging in the hard rock with a shovel, pick and ax for two months, but that he had yet to receive any pay from his Chinese taskmasters.

“We work like slaves,” Mr. Condé said. “And like slaves we are not paid. The Chinese bring nothing good to Guinea.”

I would venture to say many African countries don’t “still need the the West’s help after all”, they need responsible investment. For Mr. Condé’s sake, I hope the drop in commodity prices is a good reminder that process matters, especially in a downturn when investors are tightening their belts.

A Brave (and Responsible) Company

Very pleased to receive a link to this story on the Mine Web site regarding Newmont’s review of its community relations policy and practice. One part that most interested me:

Community relations cannot be an isolated function. “All employees must regard the implementation of the company’s community relations priorities as an essential part of their jobs. …Finally, there must be strategic planning at both the corporate and the mine-site levels.”

Great to see a company sharing less-than-best practice with the aim, hopefully, of making the industry better.

Here’s the Newmont press release.

P.S. – Here’s the full report.

More WRI Resources on Engagement

The World Resources Institute has recently published a report called “Breaking Ground: Engaging Communities in Extractive and Infrastructure Projects”. The report is a well-referenced follow on from a previous report, “Development Without Conflict: The Business Case for Community Consent”, and is the first good practice document I have seen that makes a note of the fact that there is an economic crisis upon us. (Also good to see WRI using video – see video of author, Kirk Herbertson, giving the executive summary himself.) The report, importantly, acknowledges a crucial, if somewhat obvious point: “Despite the abundance of existing reports and manuals that provide guidance on community engagement, much of the publicly available information on how project proponents engage communities reveals great difficulty in applying guidance effectively”.

Alas, the devil is in the details.

The report is useful on many levels and, even if I can’t agree with all its points or even the full framework, I think it is a very good starting point for getting into devilish details.

As an element of praise, I think the report clearly highlights the importance of preparing communities before engaging, the first principle of the framework. This is a crucial step that often gets overlooked and often not from malice, but just from the difficulty of trying to see a project from different points of view. The fourth principle on including traditionally excluded stakeholders also speaks to a key theme.

But I thought the report focused a bit too much on indigenous communities, which is in no way saying that issues related to indigenous peoples are not a crucial topic in extractive industry projects. I simply kept thinking there was a danger of people thinking these issues are only related to indigenous peoples in less developed countries when in fact they are just as important to non-indigenous communities in high income countries. I also don’t think the term Free, Prior and Informed Consent is the best way to make the business case. Language and translation plays such a key role in extractive projects. The word “consent” makes it seem like everyone has to agree, even if the report states this isn’t the case. I think stakeholders still interpret it this way.

I would welcome other opinions on the document (or even disagreements with mine, which are much more interesting).

OK! Resources Cause Conflict – Now What’s the Business Role?

While I guess it can’t hurt to have an additional paper drawing attention to the role of natural resource managment in peacebuilding, I was somewhat disappointed with the lack of emphasis on the private sector in the UN Environmental Programme’s new report, ” From Conflict to Peacebuilding: The Role of Natural Resources and the Environment”. Contrary to the Forward section, I don’t think it is contorversial that natural resources and conflict are often linked. Many organizations, including the UN, have been making the case for many years. I hope the next research paper on the topic will address the sixth bullet of recommendation No. 5: “More systematic efforts are needed by the UN and national governments to engage the private sector in the development of policies on natural resources and the environment”.

It was the only reference to business or the private sector in the paper.

I still think this type of idea is needed more often.

Also, Paul Collier offered more good ideas in a paper for the EITI in October: “Implications of Changed International Conditions for EITI”.

ICMM Case for Partnerships at Local, National and Global Levels

Catching up on overdue reading over the weekend…

ICMM’s Kathryn McPhail won the Bronze Award for the International Finance Corporation (IFC)/Financial Times (FT) essay competition for her essay, “Sustainable Development in the Mining and Minerals Sector: The Case for Partnership at Local, National and Global Levels”. While always a good source of materials, I found this document of the Resouce Endowment Initiative to be one of the better articulated cases about the importance of of companies working with government at the sub-national level. I was shaking my head a lot.

I am impressed by the ICMM process, which appears to use a transparent methodology that it keeps open to input from a wide variety of stakeholders.