EXTRACTIVE INDUSTRIES
TRANSPARENCY INITIATIVE (EITI)
London Conference, 17 June 2003
Statement on behalf of Anglo American plc at the
stakeholder meeting on the Extractive Industries
Transparency Initiative - 17 June 2003
Secretary of State, Your Excellency, Ladies and
Gentlemen, I would like to start by thanking the British
Government for taking this Initiative and for convening this
meeting.
In recent years Anglo American and other leading
companies in the mining industry have made significant
progress in addressing the sustainable development agenda.
Environmental performance has improved; mine closure
planning now forms an important element in initial mine
design. In the social sphere, we are: working hard to
improve our consultation and engagement with communities; to
support local business development; to contribute to
sustainable livelihoods; to enhance local skills and to
improve the management of our impacts.
Through the Global Mining Initiative and the Mining
Metals and Sustainable Development independent stakeholder
engagement and research project, the mining industry has
sought to define the changes which we must make if we are to
make our activities sustainable. We have an ambitious agenda
to pursue. But at the heart of this is the concept that
whereas we extract non-renewable resources - albeit most
metals are highly recyclable - we should balance this
depletion with a sustainable enhancement of the economic,
social and human capital of the areas in which we work.
We see in many of the countries where we work - like
South Africa and Chile for example, effective macro-economic
management of the resources which we and other companies in
the extractive sector help to generate. But it is also
undeniable that there are some countries where the
exploitation of natural resources has generated large
revenues which have not reached the public purse or been
deployed for the common good.
Mining is a capital intensive and long-term business. At
Anglo American we attach importance to the stability and
prosperity of the communities associated with our
operations. We want them to benefit from our presence
directly and, as appropriate, through government programmes
funded, in part, through the revenues which we help to
generate. Thus, we have a business interest in good
governance, transparency and accountability and realise that
we must play our part in helping to promote such an agenda.
As a multinational company, we understand too that we are
not in the forefront of public trust and admiration. Many
people are suspicious of what we do and how we do it. We
wrestle to quell on instinctive distrust of the profit
motive. Governance and accountability no longer relates
solely to our investors - important though they are - but
also to other stakeholders. So through publishing our
business principles; public reporting and stakeholder
engagement we seek to be at peace with the society of which
we are a part. Increased transparency is an important
element in showing that we are worthy of trust.
We think that it is important that this commitment to
transparency is observed by countries in the North as well
as in the South and by both the private sector and
State-owned companies. To be effective it must be seen as an
inclusive process. This might best be emphasised by the
adoption of a UN General Assembly Resolution to underpin the
Principles. We would expect to see civil society playing a
constructive role in the process. We hope too to see the
standard reporting template adopted widely so as to reduce
the potential administrative burden and to make the process
more comprehensible to observers.
Anglo American expressed its support for this Initiative
at the time of its launch at the World Summit in
Johannesburg. We support the Principles which it embodies.
We are happy to commit ourselves to make details of our tax
and other payments to governments available to the relevant
aggregating body in each country where the host government
decides to make the same commitment. We hope that many of
them will choose to do so. We believe that a wide commitment
to the EITI approach will be good for the reputation of the
extractive industries, for the accountability of how
revenues are used, for sustainable development and for the
investment climate in those countries which adopt it.
Edward Bickham
|