The Mining Industry And Sustainable Development Essay

Businesses, specifically larger corporations, play a major role in what occurs in society therefore, they are responsible to their stakeholders not only to pursue economic goals but the greater social good as well. Corporate social responsibility (CSR) means that a corporation should act in a way that enhances society and its inhabitants and be held accountable for any of its actions that affect people, their communities, and their environment. (Lawrence, 2010). Social responsibility is becoming the norm so much so that some businesses have incorporated it into their business model. There are three components of the bottom line of social

Sibelco sand mining company was founded in 1872 and have become a multinational business. They use raw materials from the environment to “provide solutions for society and support the cradle to cradle loop” (Sibelco, 2018). “Cradle to cradle is a sustainable business strategy that mimics the regenerative cycle of nature in which waste is reused” (Winston, n.d.). Sibelco utilises the cradle to cradle loop in order to maintain environmental mindfulness whilst working closely with local authorities and optimising their operational performance, ensuring the smallest amount of disruption (Sibelco,

The purpose of this essay is to research the notion of CSR and uncover its true framework and outline what social responsibility truly means to corporate organisations, and whether it should be seriously considered to be a legitimate addition to the corporate framework of an organisation.

Moreover, Canada should know their environmental responsibilities as companies need space for land and lots of water for dumping waste. This increases risks for injuries to occur as employees enter harsh environments. Workers end up exposed to coal dust and silica for long periods which causes serious health problems. In areas of mining companies exists pollution at an increased rate that makes the soil and water enriched with heavy metals and livestock. Globally, businesses corporate social responsibilities that are essential as they consist of four strategies: the shareholder strategy, the alustric strategy, the reciprocal strategy, and the citizen strategy. The shareholder strategy is where the corporate social responsibility is looking for an overall profit and the same to reach threshold. Secondly, the alustric strategy is where the company declares themselves unaccountable for society and allows for responsibility to fall towards the person leading the firm - the manager. Next, the reciprocal strategy has an individual who looks for the flaws in both economic and social perspectives. Lastly, the citizen strategy is where there is a business analysis that includes individuals who have different expectations and interests for continuing the company’s goals. NGOs also pressure companies to fix remedies to help the victims of the violations.

Developing countries tend to have “the most fragile environments” (Baker 197) which is due to the flow of resources dictated by the core. The core, taking advantage of the developmental level developing countries are on, exploit their lack of laws restraining harm to the environment, setting up factories causing even more environmental damage. Thus when comparing the environmental status of a developed country to a developing country there are major differences. These differences are the interaction of the people with the environment, in terms of needs, and the number of factories profiteering from the use and exploitation of natural resources. When this difference is identified then it is easier to assess not only the source but also to create laws prohibiting this exploitation and constructing programs to reverse environmental damages to specific circumstances, helping developing countries to move forward on the developmental scale instead of backwards. If this is taken into account then why is the source causing environmental damage, the core, not stopped? This is due to the dominant ideology stating that with infinite economic growth, eventually the sustainability of the environment will be achieved. The developing countries reinforces this by inviting and encouraging organizations to base their factories in their country which has immediate results, creating a smoke screen

The buyers for mining industry usually have medium to high power. There are two elements that could affect the buyer’s power. One is buyer’s level of negotiation; the other is buyer’s price sensitivity. In our case, the two companies are producing coal and uranium. These two products are mainly used for producing electricity. Buyers for these natural resources must have large quantity of demand, and also they usually have government behind them for negotiation. Even through these natural resources are unrenewable and limited, there are other mining companies producing them and these resources are undifferentiated from other companies products. This makes the buyers have high

Canada, which is the headquarters of Barrick Gold Corporation, runs 60 percent of the world’s mining corporations across the globe. Notwithstanding the fact that even though it is the forerunner in this industry, Canada has not taken the lead on mediating or taking responsibility for the behavior of their corporations abroad. The consequence of this carelessness is, Canada has drawn criticisms from around the world, first from the environmental, religious and human rights organizations, and now increasingly from international institutions, such as the United Nations.

Canada is home to some of the largest mining corporations in the world. In fact, seventy-five percent of the world’s mining companies are based in Canada (Dean, 2013). These companies are involved in the extraction of numerous resources, including silver, petroleum, bitumen and coal. Canadian mining operations also have a particular focus in gold, as twenty-one of the country’s top forty mining companies are involved in gold extraction. With billion dollar annual revenues and interests in almost every continent, these multinational companies are making a large impact around the globe (Canadian Mining Journal, 2014). However, these impacts are not necessarily positive. Canadian mining corporations have failed to implement CSR policies and

Coal is a hard, black colored rock-like substance. It is made up of carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen, and varying amount of sulphur. Coal was form as decomposition took place in the absence of oxygen and much of the hydrogen content of the matter was eroded away, leaving a material rich in carbon. The material was compressed over the years by sand and dirt, leaving the form of a carbon known as coal. The different types of coals are Anthracite, bituminous, lignite, peat, coke, and charcoal. Coal is mined out of the ground and used to produce energy. However, they are many deaths, injuries, and sickness involved in mining coal.

Corporate Social Responsibility, a theory that has evolved since the 1990s, seeks to see businesses be responsible for their actions socially and environmentally. There is an increasing trend by businesses to adopt Corporate Social Responsibility Practices. This paper attempts to define the reasons why this is so, and what strategic issues are faced by companies who adopt these practices. The issue of Corporate Social Responsibility will then be highlighted in a case study of De Beers, the world's leading diamond producer.

Coal, a mineral I have discussed previously, is necessary to our everyday lives. Coal is an incredible source of energy; it heats our houses and buildings, and also fuels stoves. You may often wonder where this extremely useful mineral comes from. Coal does not just appear; it needs to be mined through a process which results in our being able to utilize it. Coal mining is fairly inexpensive, is carried out on a large scale and can be mined in either underground or surface mines.

In our days, mining for resources is inevitable. The resources we need are valuable in everyday life. Such resources mined up are coal, copper, gold, silver, and sand. However, mining poses environmental risks that can degrade the quality of soil and water, which can end up effecting us humans if not taken care of and many of the damages are irreversible once they have occurred.

The mining industry has seen an explosive growth from the past few decades. It has played an important role in economic growth, infrastructure development and a raise in the living standard of the whole world. According to the Australian National Accounting System, the mining sector has made contributions of 9.8% GDP growth to the Australian economy between 2008 to 2009 (Australia Bureau of Statistics, 2012). However, the mining industry has caused many environmental issues such as adverse effect to air, land and water quality and continues to affect global environment as a whole. According to the World Health Organization, it evaluated that 25% of worldwide death are directly associated with environmental pollution (Blacksmith Institute, n.d). This essay will outline the environmental issue raised by the mining industry with pinpoint focus on the effects to air, water and land. It will also provide strategies for mining companies to improve the environmental conditions.

‘Corporate social responsibility’ (CSR) means that the firm has wider responsibilities in relation to objectives and people apart from the owners or shareholders (Beal and Goyen 2005). These responsibilities are achieved when the firm adapts all of its practices to ensure that it operates in ways that meet, or exceed, the ethical, legal, commercial and public expectations that society has of business. Objectives often associated with CSR include a responsibility to manage natural assets sustainably and not to pollute by chemical discharge, smell, noise, dust or other irritants; fair treatment of employees and ethical attitude towards clients. The other people include employees, customers, suppliers,

The concept of sustainable development has become a major topic among intellectuals from various fields. Sustainable development has gone through various changes in its definitions and at present does not have a commonly accepted definition. The origination of the concept of sustainable development is debatable. In 1974 at a conference on Science and Technology for Human Development by the World Council of Churches the concept of a “sustainable society” is believed to have been first noted. This early concept focused on equitable distribution of scarce resources and the need for democratic decision making. In 1980 the currently used term of sustainable development emerged in the