In my previous post, I provided some tools - courtesy of Reprisk - which might be used to keep watch on care-less corporates. Embedded below please find Reprisk's report of earlier this year entitled Most Controversial Mining Companies of 2011. I have excerpted some information from the document to whet the appetite of Networkers. ~~~~
MOST CONTROVERSIAL MINING COMPANIES OF 2011
The extraction industry
is traditionally one of the most criticized by various stakeholders for its
negative impacts on communities
and the environment. This RepRisk special report focuses on mining companies and their projects in
2011.
In order of ranking, the
10 Most Controversial Mining Companies of 2011 were:
4. BHP Billiton
6. Rio Tinto
7. Barrick Gold (equal
ranking)
9 Vedanta Resources
(equal ranking)
These mining giants and
their global operations have come under fire for allegedly polluting potable water supplies, scarring
landscapes and damaging sensitive ecosystems. There were also numerous
allegations detected by RepRisk related to impacts on local communities and
effects on the traditional wayof life of indigenous peoples. Furthermore, these
companies were accused of having poor occupational health and safety standards,
which resulted in toxic emissions and accidents that have caused injuries, fatalities
or serious illness.
The negative stakeholder
sentiment captured throughout 2011 by RepRisk indicates that it may be in a company’s best interests
to heed the warning signals and proactively address the environmental, social and governance issues
raised by various activist groups, employees, governments, shareholders, and communities. For some
companies, such as Vedanta and Rio Tinto, mining operations were so heavily criticized that activists
disrupted their Annual General Meetings, calling on the companies to put a stop to alleged human rights
abuses near their work sites and improve their stance on the environment. For Newmont and Minas Buenaventura,
the outcry surrounding their Conga Mine led to the suspension of the project in late
November.
BHP Billiton attracted a
great deal of NGO criticism for its allegedly widespread environmental
destruction and human rights abuses. Following Glencore’s Initial Public
Offering in 2011, public and media interest in the company’s activities
increased and it was heavily criticized for operations in Africa and South America.
Alpha Natural Resources’ purchase of Massey Energy saw its RepRisk Index soar,
making it the most controversial miner of the year.
Freeport-McMoRan Copper
& Gold faced allegations of human rights abuses, particularly in PNG where itssubsidiary was accused of perpetuating the abuse of workers by paying police to
guard its Grasberg Mine. It was
further accused of contaminating water bodies with heavy metals from mine tailings. Barrick Gold had to contend with multipleclaims of sexual abuse by security staff, and Anglo American faced ongoinglawsuits by former mineworkers in South Africa, who attributed their illnesses to
having worked for the company. ~~~~
I have provided for Networkers a reprise of the list - with different links. All the companies listed with links are corporations of interest to Australians. This might be because of operations in Australia, operations of Australian corporates internationally, or corporates operating close by Australia, for instance West Papua which is currently colonised by Indonesia.
1. Alpha Natural
Resources
2. Newmont Mining Corp
3. Glencore International
4. BHP Billiton
5. Freeport-McMoRan
Copper & Gold
6. Rio Tinto
7. Compania de Minas
Buenaventura
7. Barrick Gold (equal
ranking)
9. Anglo American
9. Vedanta Resources
(equal ranking)
Australian Corporate Accountability Now (ACAN)
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