Bettercoal Code enters Phase 2 of Consultation as the Organization gears-up for Operations
Bettercoal today announced that the Draft Bettercoal Code (“the Code”) has entered Phase 2 of consultation and is now available for stakeholder review and comment through its consultation website. Version 1.2 will be available on the website in four languages – English, Spanish, Russian and Bahasa Indonesian. Stakeholders who have registered at the Code consultation website will be able to provide their comments over a minimum period of 30 days.
Martin Christie, Executive Director of Bettercoal said, “We received feedback on the Draft Code through the Bettercoal consultation website and through three in-country meetings in South Africa, Russia and Colombia. It was particularly encouraging to hear feedback from such a diverse set of individuals and organizations including coal producers, coal users, trade unions, environmental and human rights NGOs, and technical experts. As a result the Code is now stronger and our overall impression is that the initiative appears to be welcomed by interested organizations in the coal producing countries.”
Christie went on to say. “We remain on track for our Members to adopt the Code in the middle of 2013. This means Bettercoal will then become operational, undertaking assessments of the ethical, social and environmental performance of coal mines.”
The Code builds upon existing mining standards and recognizes current best practice in the industry. The Assessment Guidelines, also included in Phase 2, are a detailed set of documents which will assist third-party auditors in conducting on-the-ground assessments against the Code at mine sites.
The Bettercoal Code sets out the ethical, social and environmental principles and provisions that Bettercoal Members expect their coal supply chain to align with, and will be the basis for performing regular on-site assessments by independent 3rd party assessors. This information will provide a robust data-set that coal-buyers can use in their individual coal purchasing decisions.
