Our founder, Laura García, participated in the Mining and Faith Reflection Initiative (MFRI) meeting on October 27.
This initiative arose in 2013, from the reflective dialogue between the mining industry and the Catholic Church, which has received the call from the communities for companies to work for the common good and adequately manage the socio-environmental impacts of their operation.
This year, the Day of Reflection focused especially on Just Transition, a process that seeks to comprehensively manage the implications of progressive decarbonization, such as the closure of thermal coal operations and the opening and multiplication of mining operations to meet the needs of a world driven by cleaner energy.
During the meeting, a possible effect of this transition, the "New Colonialism", was discussed, alluding to the increase and emergence of industry operations in different geographies, which may generate greater impacts on more communities, their territories, livelihoods and environment.
Reflections and conclusions:
During this space, Laura represented InSight and the Social Practice Forum (SPF), an association that brings together social professionals from around the world, and these are some of her reflections:
- Firstly, it is very valuable that more and more mining companies and the church are holding this type of event to reflect on the social impact of mining worldwide. This is an initiative that generates hope, because it denotes the growing importance of social issues for the industry.
- During this meeting interesting questions were raised around the intent and purpose of companies, and what is their commitment to climate change, Just Transition, and the impacts it generates on society and the environment.
- The question was raised about the values of decision makers in companies, and how a joint effort between industry and churches generates faith, hope and creativity in the way the mining business is managed.
- All these reflections are fundamental to our work as consultants specializing in social performance, to contribute to the construction of more holistic and integral business practices that transcend immediate impacts, helping companies to become catalysts for sustainable development in the territories.
At InSight, we celebrate the fact that more and more companies are beginning to include transcendental dimensions of human life, such as faith, in their business vision.