The Canadian approach to corporate social responsibility in the extractive industry: toward better regulatory governance in mining in Latin America (original) (raw)
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This article is based on the contributions to an online forum in which Latin America and Caribbean (LAC) extractive industry corporate social responsibility (EI-CSR) professionals and others contributed to extended discussions on CSR over several weeks in May 2012. This article presents highlights from those discussions, adding a set of grounded perspectives on the emerging and ongoing issues related to the surge in CSR and extractive industry activities (primarily mineral exploration and mining) throughout the LAC region. Analysis by the authors of this article identified four broad themes running throughout the discussions: 1) Current CSR practice in the LAC region is evolving, uneven, and/or limited; 2) LAC CSR models are influenced by global trends and standards but adapted to local context; 3) that in order to be effective, CSR must take into account local histories of the LAC region, particularly with regards to consultation mechanisms and Indigenous peoples; 4) that EI-CSR is generally seen as positive trend, but with many caveats.
Corporate Social Responsibility in the Mining Industries
2017
Mining is expanding in Latin America, although some countries have a history of mining and are heavily dependent on the extractive sector, for other countries such as Argentina, foreign direct investment in largescale mining sector is relatively new and communities are apprehensive about its contributions to national socioeconomic development and impacts on the natural environment. The Government of Argentina started to promote mining sector in the country with an introduction of a new National Mining Code in 1995, which encouraged open pit mining, technological development and liberalisation of investment regime. Several multinational companies invested in the mining sector of Argentina, including Barrick Gold, Xstrata and Meridian Gold, mostly in gold and copper mining. Multinational mining companies in Latin America often face fierce opposition from local communities and community-based organisations. In Argentina, several provinces banned mining activities on their territories and some mining projects were stopped due to public resistance. The paper critiques corporate social responsibility (CSR) framework adopted by multinational companies as inappropriate for local needs and context, thus communities often reject corporate policies and this affects corporate community relations. Communities often see CSR as a "green wash" on the part of multinational mining companies. Visser's critiques that Western conceptions and models of CSR are not entirely adequate for describing CSR in the developing countries. This paper applies Carroll's (1991) model of a CSR Pyramid, comprising economic, legal, ethical and philanthropic responsibilities to the analysis of CSR in the mining sector of Argentina. The paper examines scope and components of CSR and analyses the perception of three sectors of the society: government, mining sector and civil society towards the relative importance between the components of CSR. The paper reveals that societal groups have different perception of CSR of mining companies that might contribute to conflict. The analysis suggests that the scope and range of corporate responsibilities in the case of Argentina's mining sector are redefined.
Resources Policy, 2012
In this article, I explain the role that scientific studies play in shaping collaboration and conflict over mining exploration in the Ecuadorian highlands. Toronto-based IAMGOLD conducted water quality studies to simultaneously fulfill legal obligations and secure support for drilling in an environmentally sensitive zone. With these studies, IAMGOLD generated collaborative relations with local authorities and university scientists. However, water quality studies were also used by dairy farmers to establish new connections for an opposition movement. The scientific studies enabled IAMGOLD and the dairy farmers to make competing claims about the responsibility for contamination of an important watershed. This article analyzes the conflict that resulted and challenges conventional wisdom that distinguishes a corporation's legal obligations from its voluntary CSR programs. & 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. onment'' (European Commission (2001: 5) cited in Hamann and Kapelus (2004)). Although CSR is recognized as a viable route to solve poverty, social exclusion, and environmental degradation (Van Marrewijk, 2003; Merino and Valor, 2011), conflicts continue to mar mining development. Researchers identify several factors that may shape CSR-related tensions in the extractive industries. These include an unequal distribution of CSR benefits (Kapelus, 2002), asymmetries in power between corporations and community members (Calvano, 2008, Newell, 2005), corporate practices that undermine the collective and individual rights of communities (Kimmerling, 2001), and the absence of accountability measures (Coumans, 2010; Hamann and Kapelus, 2004). Although CSR programs may enable corporations to 'go beyond' compliance with local laws (Gunningham et al., 2003), programs can also be motivated by a corporation's search to secure profits (Blowfield, 2005; Hilson, 2007). In this article, I examine scientific knowledge-producing practices and argue that they operate as a form of CSR that organizes and gives shape to public debates over mining development. I position my analysis within critical scholarship on CSR that redefines the term as a ''system of knowledge and practice that embodies particular ways of interpreting and acting on the world'' (
2012
Focusing on a case study of a union organizing effort at the La Platosa mine from 2009-2012, this paper studies the challenges facing labour activism at Canadian mining companies in Mexico within the context of the North American Free Trade Agreement. The positions of the Mexican and the Canadian governments in relation to contemporary workers' struggles in Mexico's mining sector are considered, particularly the latter's adoption of a 'corporate social responsibility' approach to addressing the activities of Canadian extractive firms abroad. By studying the outcome of the request for mediation filed by La Platosa miners with the Canadian government's Extractive Sector CSR office in 2011 and evaluating the evolution of this government's policy approach to extractive companies abroad since 2009, we find that CSR as practiced by the Canadian government has been ineffective at mitigating abusive practices by Canadian mining companies in Mexico and that an alternate outcome is not to be expected under existing policy structures. The relative strengths and weaknesses exhibited during labour organizing at the La Platosa mine are evaluated to find both locally specific and more broadly applicable strategies which could be applied to union renewal, both by workers employed under NAFTA's transnational sector, and by the general labour movement.
Resources Policy, 2012
JEL classification: L30 M14 Q32 Q34 a b s t r a c t Since the liberalisation of its investment regime in the 1990s, Argentina has seen a rise in foreign direct investment into large-scale exploration and exploitation of mineral resources. However, many social groups (local communities, grassroots movement and the church) often strongly oppose new mining projects on the grounds of environmental, ethical and economic concerns. In a situation marked by widespread conflict, mining companies continue operating and develop Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) initiatives which are often promoted as a means of contributing to the sustainability and development of the nation. The paper develops a framework to highlight how the principles of stakeholder theory could be used as conceptual and practical guidance for conflict-resolution oriented CSR policies. The framework is further used to analyse two case studies of conflictive mining projects in Argentina. The paper explores how key stakeholders perceive contribution of CSR to welfare and the socio-economic development of mining communities and sustainable development of the nation. It demonstrates that institutional and social stakeholder networks often strongly oppose the idea of voluntary self-regulation implied by CSR in situations characterised by weak governance. Even though the CSR of companies could be improved in areas of corporate communication, transparency, stakeholder engagement and dialogue, it is not seen as a panacea for the social conflicts in the sector.
Stakeholder Perspectives on CSR of Mining MNCs in Argentina
Journal of Business Ethics, 2012
This article examines the conceptualisation of corporate social responsibility (CSR) in the context of mining multinationals (MNCs) in Argentina. It explores the suitability of CSR for addressing social, environmental and economic issues associated with mining in the country. The study is based on interviews with four stakeholder groups in the country: government, civil society, international financial organisations, and mining industry. These are analysed using content and interpretative techniques and supplemented by the content analysis of secondary data from headquarters of mining MNCs. Using the concept of corporate social responsibility orientation (CSRO), the study contrasts the perceptions of major stakeholders and examines adaptation of mining companies' CSRO to local context. It reveals that the CSRO of mining managers in Argentina differs from CSRO developed by global headquarters; and in Argentina companies ''negotiate'' economic, environmental and legal dimensions of CSR with the government. Although companies ''negotiate'' philanthropic responsibilities with the communities, ethical responsibilities are defined by the headquarters and not negotiated locally. The analysis suggests that environmental duties are the critical element of CSR in the mining sector in Argentina. This study treats environment as a separate dimension of corporate responsibility defined as to do ''what is safe for the environment''.
Environmental Management, 2022
Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is recognized as important to fostering sustainable natural resource development in the Circumpolar North. Governments are playing an increasingly active role in promoting and shaping CSR initiatives, often in collaboration with Indigenous communities and industry. This paper explores the role of CSR in mining for improving socioeconomic and environmental management practice. The article argues that government instituted regulations can lead to the development and implementation of CSR practices by mining companies. To examine the relationship between government requirements and CSR, we use two Northern case studies: Cameco Corporation's uranium mining operations located in Saskatchewan, Canada and Northern Iron's iron mining operation located in Troms and Finnmark county, Norway. Through an in-depth review of scholarly literature, document analysis, and semi-structured interviews, our findings suggest that the role of the state in the initiation and implementation of CSR is of much greater importance than is currently acknowledged in the literature. In the case of Cameco, the Mine Surface Lease Agreements agreed to by the corporation and the provincial government provided motivation for the development and implementation of their world-renowned CSR practices, resulting in a community-based environmental monitoring program and benefits for both the company and surrounding communities. With Northern Iron's operations in Kirkenes, working hour requirements instituted by the Norwegian Government allowed for significantly higher levels of local employment. Our findings suggest a greater role exists for government to facilitate the adoption of CSR policies, contributing in turn to improved socioeconomic and environmental outcomes for Northern communities.
2009
In this extended abstract we intend to show that, in several of the Latin American (LA) countries, the outcomes that may derived from the interactions between Multinational Corporations (MNCs) and the ever widening variety of interest groups that are part of civil society are deeply influenced by the recipient country's government political and economic attitudes regarding Foreign Direct Investments (FDIs). There are other effective ways to reduce the non commercial risks that FDIs, even when MNCs from environmentally ill reputed industries are involved, confront in the region: the Social License to Operate (SLO). Our research, in the form of a case study, analyzes the processes by which two different mining MNCs implemented their respective projects; the presence or absence of the SLO, as part of their corporate ethical behavior, led to polar outcomes: how and why that happened is the subject of
2015
This paper discusses the influence of competing log ics of action on corporate social responsibility (CSR) within multinational co rp rations (MNCs) and the tensions that may result from differences in institutional s ettings in MNCs’ home and host countries. It asserts that whereas the institutiona l framework of the host country plays a major role in the regulatory and distributive spher es, the spheres of discretionary spending and soft policy are primarily shaped by th e MNCs themselves through selfregulation, as well as being oriented by multinatio nal institutions. It scrutinizes how guidelines from headquarters trigger institutional changes within units in both the home and host countries. This research takes as a case s tudy Vale, a mining MNC headquartered in Brazil, and its Canadian subsidiar y.
Global Ecology and Conservation, 2016
This work is an attempt to develop a corporate social responsibility (CSR) profile based on the practices and processes used by the mining companies present in the Santurban moorland, in the department of Santander. To achieve this, a census was applied based on 82 variables in 6 planes related to corporate social responsibility and the stakeholders. Information was collected between June of 2013 and May of 2014 using a census that was applied only to those mining companies with current registrations in the Bucaramanga Chamber of Commerce and with more than 10 employees each. The results enabled the evaluation of sectorial strengths as well as those elements that need to be improved in order to achieve an optimal level of CSR. The weaknesses found in the gold companies include: lack of clear and transparent hiring practices; lack of programs for employees who are mothers with small children; and lack of sufficient tools for identifying the needs of the closest community to the sites. They do practice diverse social investment strategies but do not track the impact of applying these in the region. It was also found that they have no clear processes for identifying, selecting, contracting and evaluating their suppliers. The greatest weakness found was with respect to the Client given that they have no client service department. The strengths found amongst the Mining Companies in the Santurban Moorland include that most of them do have a CSR policy or strategy and demonstrate a positive attitude towards implementing this kind of program. In addition, they have gender equity and antidiscrimination policies and agreements that go beyond they law.