Sustainable development

Respecting human rights is fundamental to all our activities, and we have a longstanding commitment to the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights. 

Human rights are a consistent thread throughout the Social Way and our Socio-Economic Assessment Toolbox and are incorporated into our supply chain sustainable development code and supplier audit programme.

In recent years, we have strengthened our commitment to human-rights concerns within our Socio-Economic Assessment Toolbox (SEAT), Social and Environmental Assessment Standard, and our Group social policy:

• Socio-Economic Assessment Toolbox (SEAT)
  The human rights focus of SEAT includes tools on community health, gender, and conflict prevention and resolution. In 2009 we added a tool on Indigenous Peoples and developed a Group-wide stakeholder complaints and grievance procedure.
  Find out more about SEAT

• Social and Environmental Impact Assessment Standard
  For projects, the new integrated Social and Environmental Impact Assessment Standard, contained in Volume 2 of the Anglo American Environment Way, now includes a human rights component in the impact assessment process for new developments.
  The Anglo American Environment Way Volume 2 [PDF 2.0MB]

• Group social policy
  The new Group social policy (presented in the Anglo American Social Way) includes an explicit commitment to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, while the Social Way contains several clauses intended to protect the rights of employees and host communities.
  The Anglo American Social Way [PDF 767KB]

These changes ensure that human rights issues are addressed throughout the project lifecycle, with tailored guidance being provided for specific circumstances, such as resettlements and working with Indigenous Peoples.

More widely, Anglo American continues to play an important role in the global debate on protecting human rights. For example, we have supported the work of Professor John Ruggie, the UN Secretary General's Special Representative on Business and Human Rights. In particular, we've backed his efforts to spread good practice and obtain more whole-hearted support from governments for voluntary human rights initiatives.

We welcome the ‘Protect, Respect and Remedy’ Framework provided in the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, approved by the UN Human Rights Council in June 2011. The Framework rests on three pillars: the state duty to protect against human rights abuses; the corporate responsibility to respect human rights by acting with due diligence; and the need for greater access by victims to effective remedy, both judicial and non-judicial.

We believe that the approach that we have adopted in Anglo American on human rights issues is aligned with the due diligence and redress requirements set out in this framework.

Through the International Council on Mining and Metals, we have also urged the convening of new multi-stakeholder processes on Indigenous Peoples’ rights and artisanal mining.