Adoption of new Code by Members enables Bettercoal to drive supply chain responsibility

Bettercoal announced today that its Member companies adopted the new Bettercoal Code at the organization’s recent Annual General Meeting. The Members of Bettercoal are major coal buyers that will now require their coal suppliers to align with the new code of practice. The Bettercoal initiative aims to promote the continuous improvement of corporate responsibility in the coal supply chain, with a specific focus on the mines themselves.

Joachim Löchte, Chair of the Bettercoal Board and Head of Corporate Responsibility and Environment at RWE said: “Adoption of the new Code is both a significant achievement and major milestone for Bettercoal and its Members. In developing the Code, we received expert guidance from our Stakeholder Advisory Group that comprises representatives from civil society, a trade union and global mining companies. We also undertook a global consultation, including stakeholder meetings in South Africa, Colombia, Indonesia and Russia. Engaging stakeholders in these coal producing countries confirmed for me that not only is there a role for Bettercoal, but that it will also have a positive impact on the ground.”

Martin Christie, Executive Director of Bettercoal said: “While coal is used, including in power generation, and in steel and cement manufacture, we have a responsibility to ensure the coal supply chain is one where leading ethical, social and environmental performance is the norm. Bettercoal will work with both coal buyers, suppliers and other stakeholders to achieve this.”

Martin added, “Bettercoal is at an exciting time on our journey. As a result of adopting the Code, we will move to operations, implementing a program of mine assessments and providing the coal buyers with robust ethical, social and environmental performance data to integrate into their coal purchasing decisions.”

The new code of practice builds upon existing mining standards and recognizes current best practice in the industry. It sets out the ethical, social and environmental principles and provisions that members expect their coal supply chain to align with. The Bettercoal Code has been developed to incorporate the Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights: Implementing the United Nations ‘Protect, Respect and Remedy’ Framework; references requirements against International Labour Organization Conventions; incorporates an ecosystem services based approach to conservation, and references to anti-corruption practices and revenue transparency. It will be the basis for performing regular on-site assessments by independent 3rd party assessors. The results of these assessments will be shared between the members of Bettercoal.