What are the material issues the company has identified?

In its 2019 Sustainability Report Valcambi identified a range of material issues, such as governance and ethics, sustainability development in mining communities, product traceability, climate change. Among these, promoting and protecting human rights stands out as a key material issue for Valcambi.

Stakeholder engagement in accordance with the GRI Standards           

The Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) defines the Principle of Stakeholder Inclusiveness when identifying material issues (or a company’s most important impacts) as follows:

“The reporting organization shall identify its stakeholders, and explain how it has responded to their reasonable expectations and interests.”

Stakeholders must be consulted in the process of identifying a company’s most important impacts and their reasonable expectations and interests must be taken into account. This is an important cornerstone for CSR / sustainability reporting done responsibly.

Key stakeholder groups Valcambi engages with:  

To identify and prioritise material topics Valcambi engaged with its stakeholders through the following channels:

Stakeholder Group	Method of engagement
Shareholders	·      Periodic meetings
Board	·      Periodic meetings ·      Monthly reporting on business progress
Management	·      Periodic meetings
Employees	·      Quarterly report ·      Communications on notice-boards ·      Meetings with union representatives ·      Code of Conduct ·      Coordination meetings ·      Company events ·      Work climate survey ·      Website / Sustainability Report
Customers	·      Periodic customer satisfaction surveys ·      Ongoing communication ·      Interactions through industry associations ·      Client onboarding process (due diligence) ·      KYC (Know Your Client Process) ·      Website / Sustainability Report
Suppliers	·      Client onboarding process (due diligence) ·      KYC (Know Your Client Process) ·      KYP (Know Your Product Process) ·      Website, e-mail, telephone ·      Suppliers’ evaluation process ·      Code of Conduct
Competitors	·      Meetings with industry associations ·      Website
Local and national institutions, authorities	·      Monthly communication ·      Information meetings
Local communities	·      Website / Sustainability Report
Public services	·      Regular communication ·      Website
Trade and industry associations	·      Periodic meetings
NGOs national and international	·      Meetings ·      Website / Sustainability Report
Media	·      Meetings ·      Website (news) / Sustainability Report

What actions were taken by Valcambi to promote and protect human rights?

In its 2019 Sustainability Report Valcambi reports that it took the following actions for promoting and protecting human rights:

• Promoting compliance
• Valcambi frames its commitment to human rights in line with the UN Guiding Principles on Business (ILO) and Human Rights, the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises, and the OECD Due Diligence Guidance for Responsible Supply Chains of Minerals from Conflict-affected and High Risk Areas. Valcambi also complies with the GRI Standards and upholds the framework set by the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, and with relevant sector standards such as the LBMA Gold Guidance and the Responsible Jewellery Council Code of Practice and Chain of Custody Standard. Valcambi’s Compliance Officer is responsible for overseeing and managing all aspects related to human rights. He/she ensures that management and employees act in compliance with the rules and regulations of regulatory agencies and are aware of any potential risks of dealing with potential and current business partners.

• Conducting due diligence
• Human Rights due diligence is systematic for Valcambi when selecting a counterparty and Valcambi asks all of them to confirm their commitment to not tolerate any form of child labour. Valcambi actively cooperates with international organisations to support projects that aim to respect and support human rights. In particular, before sourcing from ASM, Valcambi conducts enhanced due diligence with a special focus on checking that there is no child labour and exposure of young workers to hazardous work and forced or compulsory labour. Valcambi looks not only at the situation on the mining site itself, but also in the mining communities surrounding the mine. Valcambi systematically conducts on-site visits to ensure the respect of human rights. In doing so, Valcambi not only complies but goes beyond the OECD Due Diligence Guidance, Fairtrade and Fairmined standards for gold and associated precious metals from artisanal mining.

Which GRI Standards and corresponding Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) have been addressed?

The GRI Standards addressed in this case are:

1) Disclosure 408-1 Operations and suppliers at significant risk for incidents of child labor

2) Disclosure 409-1 Operations and suppliers at significant risk for incidents of forced or compulsory labor

 

Disclosure 408-1 Operations and suppliers at significant risk for incidents of child labor corresponds to:

• Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 8: Decent Work and Economic Growth
• Targets: 8.7
• Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 16: Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions
• Targets: 16.2

Disclosure 409-1 Operations and suppliers at significant risk for incidents of forced or compulsory labor corresponds to:

• Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 8: Decent Work and Economic Growth
• Targets: 8.7

 

78% of the world’s 250 largest companies report in accordance with the GRI Standards

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References:

1) This case study is based on published information by Valcambi, located at the link below. For the sake of readability, we did not use brackets or ellipses. However, we made sure that the extra or missing words did not change the report’s meaning. If you would like to quote these written sources from the original, please revert to the original on the Global Reporting Initiative’s Sustainability Disclosure Database at the link:

http://database.globalreporting.org/

2) https://www.globalreporting.org/standards/gri-standards-download-center/

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