Bettercoal begins self and site-assessments of coal suppliers
Bettercoal announced today that following the development of its new Code and assessment toolkit, it has moved to an operational phase engaging mining companies in its assessment program. A market-driven initiative, the Bettercoal members are major coal buyers that now expect their coal suppliers to align with the new code of practice. The Bettercoal initiative aims to promote the continuous improvement of corporate responsibility in the coal supply chain, with a specific focus on the mines themselves.
Marga Edens, Chair of the Bettercoal Board and Vice President of Corporate Responsibility at RWE said: “We believe Bettercoal will bring its member companies a major efficiency when it comes to assuring our coal supply chain through a common standard and shared assessments. Members have formally engaged our supplier companies on this, seeking their alignment with the Code and cooperation with Bettercoal in the assessment process. Shared assessments bring efficiency for suppliers too, reducing the number of site assessments required at the same mine.”
Martin Christie, Executive Director of Bettercoal said: “We are at an exciting point on our journey. Now is the time to unlock the value we have created through the development phase, by providing the members with robust performance data. Our target is to complete 50 self assessments and 8 site assessments in 2014. The process is underway. The assessments will include mines in Colombia, Indonesia, Russia, S Africa, and the USA. We believe that Bettercoal can be an agent for change, not only bringing improvements at the mines themselves, but also enabling members to make well-informed decisions with regard to their coal suppliers. Bettercoal will work with both coal buyers, coal suppliers and other stakeholders to achieve this.”
Coal suppliers will be assessed against the Bettercoal Code which builds upon existing mining standards and recognizes current best practice in the industry. There was no global standard on corporate responsibility in coal mining before Bettercoal developed its Code. The self-assessment questionnaire has been developed by Bettercoal as a tool to allow coal suppliers to assess their current ethical, environmental, human rights and social performance against the Bettercoal Code. Bettercoal will also commission on-site assessments conducted by accredited independent 3rd party assessors. The assessments will lead to agreed continuous improvement plans at the mine. The results of these assessments will be shared between the members of Bettercoal.
