You may have seen us promoting the event ‘Leadership Summit: Management… WTAF!?’ and wondered what that has to do with Responsible Raw Materials, especially when most of the events we advertise are closely linked to the mining industry. Leadership and management are very broad subjects, and may not cross the minds of those working within the environmental or geological side of raw materials.
However, this event contained several talks directly linked to content covered on this site, and the overarching themes encompass what true responsibility looks like. It inspired us to think about how leadership can impact responsibility, and how the two are intrinsically linked.
The most clearly linking session of the conference to RRM was the interview of Paul Pritchard, where he discussed leadership requirements on sustainability and sustainable investments including TCFD and what we can expect to see in the future:
Our very own Dr Sarah Gordon also delivered a talk entitled ‘Risky Stuff’, which touched on why ‘not-knowing’ is simply not an excuse for events such as the destruction of the Juukan Gorge, and how properly addressing risk can ensure sustainability.
Whilst the other talks may seem more of a ‘jump’, they can be viewed as linking to responsibility in two overarching ways.
The first way leadership can be considered in this context, is that good, effective leadership comes under the ‘social’ aspect of ESG, an acronym commonly referred to when discussing responsibility or sustainability. Practising care for employees, promoting a safe work environment, and supporting both the physical and mental wellbeing of those who form part of your organisation is therefore part of being responsible. Many of these points are now mentioned in frameworks such as GRI, ICMM Mining Principles and RMI Topics.
The second, is that only well-lead organisations, with boards that listen to employees, have a set-up which allows long-term responsibility. Many catastrophes can be avoided when good communication occurs – in turn promoting responsibility.
Here at Responsible Raw Materials, we believe that only true responsibility is enough. Everyone can play a part in this – but true leadership should promote and stimulate it.
To watch the rest of the videos, please click here.
Any questions: hello@responsiblerawmaterials.com
