Sustainability to the Core
Goldcorp President and CEO, Chuck Jeannes, believes sustainable business practices enhance overall corporate performance by “doing well and doing good at the same time.”
Goldcorp’s recent amendment of the corporate pillar Growing Partnerships to become Growing Sustainability refines the company’s commitment to partnerships that share fundamental principles of environmental stewardship and corporate social responsibility (CSR).
Six pillars together cascade from the company’s core vision and values to guide the everyday actions of all employees across operations. Sustainability is both a foundational component and functional element that flows enterprise wide, from corporate governance, strategic direction, ethics and compliance, community relations, human resources health and safety, security, and of course environmental management and CSR.
Jerry Danni, appointed in January to the new positon of Senior Vice President, Sustainability, says “We’re working to truly embody our vision of Together Creating Sustainable Value, at all levels of the organization. Historically, the various components of sustainability, whether it was CSR, health and safety or environment, have been viewed as a separate responsibility – as ‘someone else’s job.’ What we’ve done is incorporate sustainability into our core business at all levels, so people understand they have a role to play in implementing our sustainability program.”
The 2014 launch of Goldcorp’s Sustainability Excellence Management System (SEMS) – an integrated strategy for Safety and Health, Environment, CSR and Security – was the foundation for setting standards and measurements. SEMS is a framework for organizational structure, responsibilities, practices, procedures, processes and resources for implementing and maintaining performance throughout the mining cycle and global operations.
In less than a year, SEMS has resulted in more rigorous monitoring and reporting, while serving as a springboard for the new Water Stewardship Strategy which tailors use and conservation plans for every operation, with site-specific performance targets.
SEMS also enfolds Goldcorp’s many Collaboration Agreements with First Nations, local and regional community initiatives, social and environmental reclamation projects, and the company’s long-term Energy Strategy to increase efficiency by 15%, reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 20% and obtain at least 5% of energy from renewable sources by late 2016.
To date, much has been accomplished and even more is in the works says Danni. “We’re always looking for new ways to improve our business performance in all areas. It’s our obligation as a company to be more responsive to our shareholders, employees, partners and the communities where we operate so we can create a sustainable legacy for future generations.”
To learn more about Goldcorp’s SEMS initiatives, watch an interview with Jerry Danni at https://youtu.be/VRaUwqssz2I and visit our 2014 Sustainability Report. http://csr.goldcorp.com/2014/strength-governance.php?article=3.
