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Dear BSR member,
As we embark on 2011, I'd like to take this opportunity to reflect on our great progress together over the past year, and share thoughts about what you can expect in the year ahead from BSR, and our energy and extractives industry practice in particular.
2010 Highlights
- Membership: Our energy and extractives membership grew to 42 companies, and we anticipate continued expansion of this valuable network given broader improvements in the economy as well as strong prospects for many specific commodity price levels. Please note that an important member benefit is access to our Member Center, which provides a searchable library of research reports, webinars, and member publications.
- Collaboration: BSR continued its work with several of our energy and extractives members through the Environmental Services, Tools & Markets Working Group.
- BSR Conference 2010: For those of you who had the opportunity to attend our recent Conference in New York, we hope you enjoyed it and found it useful. Even if you weren’t able to attend, you can download and view session summaries and video highlights on our website.
- Advisory services: As a result of greater focus on and investment in both staff and resources, our Energy and Extractives team enjoyed its busiest year in BSR's history. We provided leading-edge advice on a variety of topics both at corporate headquarters and "in the field." Our work in 2010 spanned from rural communities in the United States to locations in Colombia, Peru, Papua New Guinea, Indonesia, Mongolia, Chile, Argentina, and Mexico.
We worked with our energy and extractives members on a range of topics, including the following:
CSR Strategy and Program Design
- Global water strategy development and assistance (energy)
- Asset-based level sustainability assessment and the development of long-term strategic road maps (mining)
- Materiality process facilitation for subsidiaries (mining)
- Biodiversity policy development (energy)
- Sector-specific research on emerging trends and organizational benchmarking
International Stakeholder Engagement and CSR Reporting
- SRI priorities analysis for the energy and mining sectors
- Annual CSR and sustainability report writing and review (energy, mining)
- Advisory board design and establishment (energy, mining)
- Multi-location facilitation of controversial sector issues (energy, mining)
Human Rights, Community Engagement, and Local Development
- Socioeconomic baseline studies supporting large capital projects (energy)
- Targeted outreach and engagement to establish risk assessments, social investment, and community relations priorities (energy, mining)
- Indigenous peoples' policies review (mining)
- Review of trusts, funds, and foundations for local benefit delivery mechanisms (mining)
- Deployment of innovative local community visioning and capacity building techniques to mitigate risks and enhance local benefits (mining)
Supply Chain and Procurement
- Procedures review and "pilot" development for sustainable procurement strategies (energy, mining)
- Large-scale integrated workforce, supplier, and community investment plan development (energy)
A Look Forward to 2011
In addition to our traditional services and offerings, BSR will focus on the following three priorities in 2011:
Membership
Enhanced emphasis on member events and initiatives for the energy and extractives industry.
- News briefs and expert analysis of the energy and mining sectors
- Webinars on selected topics with BSR expert and industry perspectives
- Workshops in strategic locations focused on the practical aspects of CSR initiatives including the "Commercial Value from Sustainable Local Benefits" theme (see below)
Innovation
Development of new approaches to industry-specific issues and challenges.
- The Energy and Extractives team will support and promote best practices across our research and advisory services offerings.
- Our membership communications and networking opportunities will feature cross-industry best practices and innovations.
Core Offering: Commercial Value From Sustainable Local Benefits
Business, civil society, and government approaches to addressing local issues in the energy and extractives sector have become increasingly sophisticated over the last decade and include a broad range of successful practices across a diverse mix of local contexts and community settings. Despite these best practices, BSR believes that substantial value is often "left on the table" for many reasons, including misaligned objectives or inadequate systems, procedures, and resource deployment decisions at various stages of the project life cycle.
Given the growing complexity of issues encountered by energy and extractives companies as well as the magnitude of value that is often at stake due to social and environmental challenges, BSR believes that the cost/benefit ratio for more systematic investment in the achievement of longer-term local benefits is increasingly favorable.
BSR's Energy and Extractives team helps our members build operational excellence and organizational capabilities that are focused on delivering both commercial value and local benefits. We work with members to:
- Ensure rigorous and efficient management of human rights and environmental issues
- Build innovative and cost-effective partnerships
- Achieve internal alignment across all corporate functions on local benefit programs throughout the entire project life cycle
- Navigate difficult operating environments through collaboration with government, civil society, and other companies
- Identify systems, skill sets, and third-party resources that make it possible to implement the above
We look forward to working with you in 2011!
Sincerely,
Michael Oxman
Director, Energy & Extractives
+1 415 984 3238
moxman@bsr.org
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