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Mining firms sign up for environmental stewardship monitoring
(Malaya) | Published: October 13, 2014

The country’s top mining firms have signed a memorandum of understanding with eco advocacy group Philippine Business for Environmental Stewardship (PBEST), taking part in a new monitoring program designed to check the companies’ environmental footprint.

Representatives from industry giants Philex Mining Corp., Atlas Mining, Benguet Corp. and Nickel Asia signed the memorandum at the recently concluded Mining Philippines 2014 Conference and Exhibition in Manila.

Also present were Chamber of Mines chairman Artemio Disini and PBEST convenor CP David, project lead for the Environmental Performance Tracking Program (EPTP).

“It’s a big step toward the right direction,” David said.

He added, “That these companies are willing to undergo objective scrutiny from an independent third party is a sign of goodwill. It’s a sign of being good corporate citizens.”

The EPTP will keep track of a company’s compliance to the environment provisions of the Mining Act through monitoring tools validated by a team of experts from PBEST.

Among others, the scorecard will measure compliance and matching financial commitment.

“There’s no question that mining companies get a lot of negative publicity from the media,” said David.

“This kind of cooperation is an opportunity for them to disprove those claims in a highly credible manner,” he added.

However, David clarified that the scorecard is not meant to compare companies against each other since the conditions on the ground vary among mine sites.

“It will not be a qualitative assessment since the basis for the scorecard is pretty straightforward – the Mining Act and its accompanying IRR,” he said, adding that participation is voluntary and the findings are confidential.

He said the scorecard will instead highlight a company’s best practices, as well as areas where its performance is beyond compliance, all in the spirit of raising the standards of the industry.

PBEST believes a developmental approach is more effective in building trust and understanding among stakeholders so that doable and long term programs are actualized.

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