The Forum on Corporate Responsibility

Transcription

1 The Forum on Corporate Responsibility The Forum on Corporate Responsibility is structured for maximum engagement by all members. The BHP Billiton Forum on Corporate Responsibility (the Forum) is an advisory body through which civil society representatives engage with our executive team on the Group s material sustainability issues. The Forum has been a key component of our stakeholder engagement program since 1999, contributing significantly to the development of our environment, community and security standards. The Forum was conceived when the environmental and social impacts of the Ok Tedi Mining Limited (OTML) copper mine in Papua New Guinea (PNG) were under scrutiny by a range of stakeholders. BHP Billiton, which owned 52 per cent of OTML, sought to close the mine early to mitigate environmental impacts. However, the PNG Government, which held a 30 per cent interest in the mine, did not support this strategy due to the social and economic benefits it believed the mine delivered to the PNG people. In an attempt to better understand and address the criticism surrounding Ok Tedi, BHP Billiton s then Chief Executive Officer, Paul Anderson, invited a group of NGO leaders to openly discuss the matter with him and other senior Company executives. Over two days, the complex social, economic and environmental dilemma facing Ok Tedi was examined in depth and a range of possible solutions was considered. The conversation was difficult and robust but constructive and a major contribution was made to the development of plans to resolve the issue. BHP Billiton subsequently withdrew from Ok Tedi in February 2002, transferring its equity stake to PNG Sustainable Development Program Limited, an independent development fund that was established for the benefit of the Papua New Guinean people. The success of this engagement between our executive team and NGOs led to the establishment of the Forum on Corporate Responsibility, which now has a permanent place within our broader stakeholder engagement program. The Forum has since evolved from an Australian group to a membership representative of the key geographic regions where we operate or have a business interest, and a variety of technical themes of relevance to the Company s role and interaction in society. While the composition and operation of the Forum have changed over the years, each BHP Billiton Chief Executive Officer has remained committed to it, appreciating the unique opportunity to engage with a group of key opinion leaders who have perspectives that often differ from those held inside our Company. BHP BILLITON CASE STUDY 1

2 Structure and process The Forum is structured for maximum engagement by all members who comprise nine senior leaders from civil society, eight BHP Billiton Group Management Committee (GMC) representatives and two representatives from our Health, Safety Environment and Community (HSEC) Group Function. The Forum is chaired by the BHP Billiton Chief Executive Officer. The composition of the Forum is renewed against our changing sustainability agenda. In 2009, the Forum strengthened its governance processes and instigated a four-year term for civil society members to ensure the Forum maintains a fresh and diverse perspective on external stakeholder concerns and views. New members are selected on the basis of relevant skills and knowledge, geographic location, capacity to contribute and work on a collaborative basis, as well as complementing the overall balance of the group. Preference is given to individuals who have strong NGO experience and an understanding of the resource sector. The Forum meets twice each year. Civil society members receive briefings on agenda items from BHP Billiton management and invited experts before meeting with our GMC members for a full day to raise material issues, provide insights and advice and to challenge the leadership on issues discussed during the briefings. The agenda is developed collaboratively and includes issues of mutual interest to our Company and civil society members. Site visits to our operations, regional engagement with operational teams on specific sustainability issues, and other side activities such as engagements with the full BHP Billiton Board and attending our Annual General Meeting, are incorporated into the program. Site visits enable civil society members to physically experience activities associated with the resources industry, observe how our Company does business and to understand our sustainable development challenges and opportunities. Value of the Forum The Forum enables all members to develop a greater appreciation of each other s views and perspectives. BHP Billiton representatives benefit from engaging directly with a group of civil society leaders who represent different perspectives on current and emerging sustainability issues. The Forum helps ensure societal implications are understood and considered in important Company decisions. Our members also use the Forum as a learning platform to test proposed positions and strategies. Civil society members view the Forum as an important means by which to understand how a large global resources company operates, and to influence the decisions of BHP Billiton s leadership. These decisions have the potential to shape the Company s sustainability performance, to inform the approach we take within our sphere of influence (which includes industry bodies, regulators and governments) and to ultimately create better outcomes for society and the environment. Over the years, the Forum has discussed diverse topics, including uranium stewardship; operating in conflict zones; issues faced by Indigenous peoples, including free, prior and informed consent; revenue transparency and anti-corruption; sustainable development challenges faced by exploration and development projects; and the nature of corporate responsibility in a changing world. The Forum has also reviewed and made a significant contribution to the development of our environment, community and security standards in areas including climate change, biodiversity, business ethics and human rights, and has contributed to our decisions to commit to external standards. Additionally, the Forum has had input into our public sustainability targets and plays an important role in contributing to the material issues that inform our sustainability reporting process. Reporting and accountability The Forum provides a significant opportunity for BHP Billiton and civil society leaders to engage in a full, frank and robust interchange of what can be very different views, opinions and perspectives. This openness is critical to the success of the Forum and requires trust and a level of understanding of each other s position, which develops over time. To help foster this environment, we report on the membership and broad activities of the Forum, but we do not disclose advice or comments provided by individual Forum members. Minutes of Forum meetings are kept and circulated to all members; however, no discussions are publicly reported and deliberations are confidential to members. As a result, a high level of mutual respect and trust has developed over the life of the Forum. Review The Forum is subject to ongoing review and regularly considers ways to improve meaningful engagement. Feedback is sought on each meeting and collated and circulated to members. A formal peer review process is conducted by an independent organisation every second year to consider the operation and effectiveness of the Forum as a whole and to provide individual members with a confidential assessment of their contribution as determined by their peers. BHP BILLITON CASE STUDY 2

3 Principles for success The Forum has continued to operate amid changes in personnel, organisational structure and societal expectations and retains an important place in our engagement agenda. Some of the key principles thought to contribute to the Forum s success include: Strong personal commitment from our executive team to support and actively participate in the activities of the Forum. Involvement of experienced and highly respected NGO leaders who have a broad understanding of international policy trends and emerging sustainability issues. Participation by individual members in a manner that respects the varied ideological positions of other members. Capacity to demonstrate outcomes resulting from Forum discussions. Clear understanding that the Forum is an advisory body we are not bound by the advice of the Forum and the Forum does not endorse our decisions. Mutual respect and trust. Current BHP Billiton members GMC members Peter Beaven, President, Copper Tim Cutt, President, Petroleum and Potash Dean Dalla Valle, President, Coal Mike Henry, President, HSEC, Marketing and Technology Andrew Mackenzie, Chief Executive Officer Daniel Malchuk, President, Aluminium, Manganese and Nickel Jimmy Wilson, President, Iron Ore Karen Wood, President, Public Affairs Group HSEC members Lucas Dow, Head of Group HSEC Ian Wood, Vice President, Community Relations and Sustainability Current Civil Society members Greg Bourne, Chair, Australian Renewable Energy Agency Board (Australia) Greg is Chair of the Australian Renewable Energy Agency Board, an independent statutory authority established by the Australian Government to improve the competitiveness of renewable energy technologies and increase the supply of renewable energy in Australia. From 2004 to July 2010, Greg was Chief Executive Officer, World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) Australia, a not-for-profit organisation committed to find solutions to challenges facing the natural environment in Australia and the Asia-Pacific. Before taking up the role as Chief Executive Officer, WWF Australia in October 2004, Greg had a distinguished international business career at BP, working in the United Kingdom, America, Canada, Ireland, Brazil, China and Australia. In 1988, Greg was the Special Advisor on Energy and Transport in the United Kingdom Prime Minister s Policy Unit and he has been awarded the Australian Centenary Medal for services to the environment. Professor Michael Dodson, Director, National Centre for Indigenous Studies, Australian National University (Australia) Mick is a member of the Yawuru peoples and Director of the National Centre for Indigenous Studies, Australian National University. He is a vigorous advocate of the rights and interests of the Indigenous peoples of the world. From January 2005 to December 2010 Mick was a member (Pacific) of the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues. He participated in the crafting of the text of the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples adopted overwhelmingly in 2007 by the United Nations General Assembly. Mick was Australia s first Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice Commissioner with the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission. He was the founding Co-Chair of Reconciliation Australia and a board member of the Lingiari Foundation and was also a founding member and Chairman of the Australian Indigenous Leadership Centre. Mick is a Professor of Law at the ANU College of Law; a fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences in Australia; and was awarded Australian of the Year in BHP BILLITON CASE STUDY 3

4 The Forum provides a significant opportunity for BHP Billiton and civil society leaders to engage in a full, frank and robust interchange of what can be very different views, opinions and perspectives. Cristina Echavarria, Director, Alliance for Responsible Mining (Colombia) Cristina has over 25 years of experience in participatory local natural resource management at grassroots level, in research program management and project implementation in mining regions of Latin America and Africa. Cristina is a Director of the Colombian-based Alliance for Responsible Mining, an organisation that aims to enhance equity and wellbeing in artisanal and small-scale mining communities. From 2000 to 2005, Cristina was the Director of the Mining Policy Research Initiative in Uruguay and she was the South American Coordinator of the engagement and stakeholder participation process for the Mining, Minerals and Sustainable Development project and is recognised as a world expert supporting the rights of local communities. James Ensor, Managing Director, People and Planet Group (Australia) James is the founder and Managing Director of People and Planet Group, working with and between NGOs, the corporate sector and governments to address complex sustainable development issues. Up until December 2012, James was Director of Public Policy and Associate Director for International Programs with international development agency Oxfam. In these roles he had responsibility for Oxfam s policy, advocacy, campaigning and stakeholder liaison functions and oversight of Oxfam s long-term development and humanitarian response programs in 25 countries, with a focus in East Asia, South Asia, Southern Africa, the Pacific and Australia. At a global level, James was a member of the Oxfam International Global Team with responsibility for Oxfam International s global strategic and operational planning involving the work of staff across 120 countries. Prior to joining Oxfam, James worked in the area of Aboriginal land rights in Australia. Tommy Garnett, Executive Director, Environmental Foundation for Africa (Sierra Leone) Tommy is Executive Director for Environmental Foundation for Africa (EFA), an NGO he founded initially in the United Kingdom in 1992 to create awareness about the adverse consequences of mining in his home country, Sierra Leone. In 1997, he led the establishment of EFA s operations in Liberia to address the environmental impacts of Liberia s conflicts and human displacement. Tommy has been instrumental in creating national and regional networks in West Africa to enable the development of platforms for effective environmental advocacy in domestic and international arenas. He was the West Africa Regional Focal Point for IUCN s National Committee of the Netherlands ( ) and Regional Chairman of the IUCN Commission on Education and Communication ( ). He also served as a member of the United Nations Security Council Panel of Experts from 2003 to 2007, monitoring the economic sanctions on Liberia, with the specific task of assessing the socio-economic and humanitarian impacts of the sanctions. Tommy is a Senior Associate of Cambridge University s Programme for Sustainability Leadership. BHP BILLITON CASE STUDY 4

5 Dr Simon Longstaff, AO, Executive Director, St James Ethics Centre (Australia) As Executive Director of St James Ethics Centre, Simon encourages the integration of ethical considerations into the strategic thinking of the management community and those who advise and regulate them. Simon was inaugural President of The Australian Association for Professional and Applied Ethics and is Vice Chairman of the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) as well as being a director of a number of companies. He is a Fellow of the World Economic Forum. Previously, he lectured at Cambridge University and worked as consultant to the Cambridge Commonwealth and Overseas Trusts. Simon serves on a number of committees and boards, including the Australian Institute of Company Directors and the Corporate Governance Committee. Malini Mehra, Founder, Centre for Social Markets (India) Malini is founder and former Chief Executive ( ) of Centre for Social Markets, an Indian non-profit pioneer on sustainability and corporate responsibility. A political scientist and gender specialist by training, Malini has more than 25 years of inter-disciplinary and multi-stakeholder experience in NGOs, government, business, academia and the United Nations. She led campaigns for Friends of the Earth International; served as adviser to Secretary-General Kofi Annan on UN-civil society relations; created the British Government s sustainability partnerships with emerging powers; and produced the film, In Good Company, on corporate climate leadership in India. She serves on numerous corporate and NGO boards including Unilever, Kimberly-Clark, Hewlett-Packard, GRI and ChinaDialogue.net. Her honours include Young Global Leader of the World Economic Forum and Asian Women of Achievement Professor Yaa Ntiamoa-Baidu, Pro-Vice Chancellor, Ghana University and Chair, Ghana Wildlife Society (Ghana) Yaa is the Pro-Vice Chancellor of the University of Ghana and has been working to improve the research efforts of the university through strong collaboration with industry. She has been a professor and head of the Zoology Department since the mid-1980s. Yaa established a number of non-profit organisations to promote interest in environment and nature conservation in Africa, including the Centre for African Wetlands, of which she is Chair. Previously, Yaa led WWF International s Africa and Madagascar Program and was a member of the Executive Team of WWF International. She was one of five African environment experts selected for a roundtable discussion with President Clinton when he visited Botswana in Phil Vernon, Director of Programs, International Alert (United Kingdom) Phil has more than 25 years of experience working in NGOs, mainly in Africa, specifically being involved in the design and implementation of development, humanitarian, peacebuilding and human rights work, policy analysis and advocacy. In his current role, he is responsible for strategic oversight of International Alert s programs. He co-led the development of Alert s core peace-building philosophy and methodology. Prior roles include various senior positions, in several African countries, at CARE. BHP BILLITON CASE STUDY 5