the editor
Socially conscious profit
Editor
The
W
hen I write these editorials, I often find myself referring to the hoops that miners must negotiate to satisfy their shareholders. One hoop that interests me in particular is the theme of sustainability, which gets more challenging every year. This year, I am indebted to Deloitte Global for introducing me to the terms ‘socially conscious profit’ and ‘value beyond compliance’. Analysts and commentators love to coin new phrases because they broadcast the suggestion that they have something new to say. When you look ‘beyond the headlines’ and discover that they do have something new to say, it’s an absolute delight. We have long known about corporate social responsibility, of course, and some companies now publish exhaustive annual reports on their CSR performance, but I always found that an awkward phrase – just a little too long to trip off the tongue with any degree of comfort and suggestive of obligations rather than opportunities. ‘Socially conscious profit’ is so much more eloquent, while ‘value beyond compliance’ is brilliant in its simplicity. Bringing profit and value into the realm of potentially tedious and tangential responsibilities is a recipe for success in my book. I cannot testify as to the origin of these new terms, but they were delivered to me with the publication of Deloitte Global’s
Martin Ashcroft
12th annual Tracking the Trends report in early February this year. The report presents an analysis of ten trends Deloitte sees as the drivers of corporate strategy in 2020. The first, The social investor: Embedding value beyond compliance into corporate DNA, offers guidance on investors’ demands for greater transparency around the social, economic and environmental impact that sectors like the mining industry have on the world around them. These ideas are not new, of course, having been born in Victorian times with the efforts of industrialists including Lever brothers and the Cadbury family, but they have developed far beyond philanthropy into a form of social science. Modern-day CSR started with making the right noises about being a good neighbour, respecting the rights of traditional landowners, planting trees, testing water quality and employing local people. What is different now is how proactive you have to be, anticipating potential problems and planning solutions rather than reacting to events. What miners have to do to attract investors is getting more complicated all the time. Perhaps Deloitte will forgive my etymological teasing, if I say that it does all make sense. Compliance is a given, but there is a new world beyond compliance, and it is bursting with value, if you can grasp it. World Mining Magazine www.ogsmag.com
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