Living by the Code
I became chairman of Anglo American just over a month ago and I am proud to work for a company that benchmarks itself against the highest global standards when it comes to respecting human rights. Right across the company, at all levels, there is a real commitment to conducting our business in an ethical fashion. That commitment was reinforced earlier this year when we introduced our Code of Conduct.
We have always had policies to guide us to do the right thing but the Code of Conduct, which is underpinned by a well-defined set of values and behaviours, makes it clear ‘what’ we must do and ‘how’ we must do it. The Code informs our Human Rights Framework, which incorporates our own Human Rights Policy, launched in 2014.
Our policy sets out our commitment to preventing, and addressing, impacts on human rights. Its development helped us to gain a better understanding of what our human rights issues are and to address any gaps. And while the political and social landscape may change, and with it external requirements and expectations, our policy can be adapted and updated to ensure that we are always aiming for the highest standards.
Framework
Our Human Rights Framework sets out for our employees how we respect human rights. It also makes clear how our policy is linked to our standards, such as our Social Way, the governance framework we employ to assess our social performance among our host communities around the world. The policy and its implementation mean we are well prepared to respond to any legislative developments such as the UK’s Modern Slavery Act (MSA), the first piece of legislation dedicated to the prevention of modern slavery and the protection of its victims.
The Act makes it clear that global companies such as ours are responsible for preventing slavery or labour abuses across their global supply chains. We work hard to make sure that we run an ethical value chain that is free of modern slavery, which we demonstrated in 2016 with the introduction of our Responsible Sourcing Standards for Suppliers.
Leadership
Last year, our Chief Executive, Mark Cutifani, attended the annual UN Business & Human Rights Forum in Geneva, where he spoke about the role of leadership in respecting human rights. In October this year, Mark became a member of the Business Against Slavery Forum, which is dedicated to helping businesses identify, tackle, and prevent slavery in supply chains.
Mark’s leadership demonstrates his personal commitment to human rights. I believe it is our responsibility, as leaders, to model the behaviours we would like our colleagues across the business to replicate - actions speak louder than words.
As Anglo American evolves and grows and as business is increasingly and rightly held to account by society, it is critical that we can continue to demonstrate our respect for human rights. We can do that in the way each of us behaves; how we engage with all our stakeholders, including host communities, governments and civil society organisations, as well as with our own employees.
It isn’t enough to simply draw up a policy; we must live it.
