I recently attended the Colombia Gold Symposium, an event in Medellín that brought together the Colombian gold exploration and extraction industry to discuss the results and the main challenges ahead.
From InSight Entendimiento Social, we would like to share the most important conclusions of this event.
- The social performance perspective: Although various topics related to the mining industry were discussed, I would like to highlight that all the interventions talked about social performance, which implies a recognition of communities, people and their rights as a cross-cutting issue in the business. We no longer talk about mining without talking about communities and other external actors. In fact, it is now recognised that social management is an absolute necessity if a project or operation is to be successful. However, there is still a view that communities represent a risk to operations, and community relations continue to have a transactional tendency.
- However, there is a gradual shift from a transactional and philanthropic approach to a vision of standards, and social management is now also seen from a rights-based perspective. Fortunately, some companies are going beyond the philanthropic perspective, even the standards perspective, to take an innovative view of the purpose of mining activity. Such is the case of Anglo Gold Ashanti, when its representative stated that "we have to decide whether our business is mining development, or whether it is regional development through mining". This vision undoubtedly opens the door to the integration of social performance into the core of the industry as a business and overcomes the enclave vision of operations, leading them to see themselves as catalysts for regional development.
- The growing importance of social performance: The firm Ernst & Young pointed out that by 2035, 95% of business decisions will be related to socio-environmental aspects. In fact, companies are already expected to have production chains that respect human rights, manage impacts on climate change, ensure social inclusion and participation, among others; and this expectation and the monitoring of compliance will continue to increase. Furthermore, if we take into account that mining is fundamental to the energy transition, a transformation as a business is urgently needed to adapt to the demands of today's world that will determine its value. This implies that mining companies must transform themselves to become more sustainable. In the same vein, at the last COP26, concerns began to be raised about the increase in mining, and the impacts on access to land and the livelihoods of communities.
The mining business will continue to grow, and this growth must be accompanied by an integrated social conscience, a rights-based perspective, and a human-based relationship.
- Diversity for change and innovation: Looking at the participants at the event, it is inevitable to note that mining is still a largely male-dominated industry. Per se this is not a problem, in fact, this aspect has also contributed to the success of the industry. A contribution to success is also innovation and business transformation, and these require diversity in vision, decision-making and project execution. More diverse participation is needed in the mining environment. This implies that women are prepared to enter the industry and that spaces are opened to influence, make decisions and act from a different perspective. We need a more diverse and inclusive mining sector.
Against this backdrop, InSight has services that respond to new business needs and challenges:
- We help integrate social performance into business dynamics: planning, decision making, and the structuring and articulation of socially conscious teams. At InSight we have the business understanding to help you in this process.
- We know how to build a better and deeper understanding of the socio-political environment in order to plan strategically and in the long term for integrated social management. We offer tools for social studies (socio-economic baseline, stakeholder analysis, risk and impact analysis, etc.) to gain a broad and detailed perspective of the environment and how to relate to it effectively.
- When it comes to future challenges, we help our clients to take a more global view of their business. We also guide them along the path of international standards to align with them and even go further and become catalysts for development in the region.
- Our global experience allows us to create spaces for dialogue and understanding based on values and respect for rights. We know how to make space for diversity and how to harness the potential of conflict and tension to generate negotiations, agreements and understanding between parties that bring value to all.
We invite you to visit our portfolio at https://insightsocial.org.