PDAC 2010: Warm welcomes

Comment

An unseasonably warm and sunny Toronto welcomed delegates to the annual PDAC convention this year.

Some started proceedings a day early, however, joining us for the inaugural Mining, People and the Environment conference hosted by Mining Environmental Management, with support from PDAC and ICMM.

Welcoming around 150 delegates to this first event discussing corporate social responsibility and sustainability in the mining industry, the MPE day got off to a fine start with a keynote address from Marketa Evans, extractive sector CSR counsellor at Foreign Affairs and International Trade Canada and two morning sessions discussing law and governance, and community engagement issues.

Ms Evans reinforced the message that “CSR is not a fad” in her opening address, and urged the industry to do more to improve its CSR reputation. Delegates seemed to agree that while the mining industry has had a strong record in implementing CSR it has failed to result in an improvement in its reputation as far as other stakeholders are concerned.

The day progressed with further presentations on topics from rights and access to water to the implementation of the PDAC’s E3 Plus toolkit, and while the day covered a plethora of important issues in the CSR space, the key reoccurring message was engaging with communities to achieve that essential ‘social licence to operate’.

Patrick Chevalier closed on a positive note, echoing Ms Evans message that mining needs to be seen as part of the solution to sustainability rather that part of the problem. Mr Chevalier said a change in the conversation was coming, and I for one hope that the mining industry might begin to gain recognition for what it has already achieved, and the potential it can reach.

Delegates engaged in some lively discussion about the topics covered throughout the day, which continued in to the early evening, and as the sun was setting we all left with a positive feeling that the first steps in a new forum for CSR had been made.