Bettercoal participates in Dutch trade mission to Colombia focusing on responsible coal mining
Board Chair Marga Edens represented Bettercoal in a multi-stakeholder delegation to Colombia led by Dutch Minister Lilianne Ploumen, Minister for Foreign Trade and Development Cooperation. The delegation included: Bettercoal regular members with generating capacity in The Netherlands – E.ON, GDF Suez, RWE and Vattenfall; associate members, the Port of Rotterdam and the bulk handling company, EMO; two Dutch MPs, representatives of non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and the media.
The visit enabled the European delegation to hold discussions with Colombian stakeholders, both national and those local to the mines, to better understand the economic importance of the coal sector, the environmental and social impacts of the coal mining and the situation on the ground in and around the mines. Visits to two of Colombia’s major exporting coal mines, Cerrejón and Drummond Ltd., included discussions with unions, local communities – including those that have been resettled as a result of the expansion of mining operations – and victims of the civil war.
Marga Edens, Chair of the Bettercoal Board and Vice President of Corporate Responsibility at RWE said: “The risks and challenges that our suppliers face in producing coal are the same risks that we see in our supply chain. Through Bettercoal we are engaging with our suppliers through self- and site assessments so that we understand where the risks exist and then working with mining companies to bring improvements on the ground. Speaking to stakeholders and seeing the mining operations first-hand means we not only have a better understanding of our supply chain but also how Bettercoal can play a legitimate role in Colombia in conjunction with other stakeholders.”
Bettercoal completed a site-assessment at Drummond Ltd’s Colombian operations in 2014. Independent third-party assessors conducted a comprehensive review of the company’s mining operations against the Bettercoal Code, focusing on the assessment of both management systems and performance measures. Opportunities for improvement were incorporated into a time-bound Corrective Action Plan produced and agreed upon as part of this process and that the mining company has committed to implement. Importantly, the process will provide the members of Bettercoal (coal buyers) with robust, objective information that enables them to make informed purchasing decisions.
