Gas Natural Fenosa joins Bettercoal initiative to drive improvements in the coal supply chain
Bettercoal and Gas Natural Fenosa announced today that Gas Natural Fenosa, the Spanish utility company, has joined the global initiative to promote the continuous improvement of corporate responsibility in the international coal supply chain. The initiative was established in February 2012 and aims to support on-the-ground changes to the benefit of workers, communities, businesses and the environment. The Members of Bettercoal are major coal buyers that require their coal suppliers to align with a new code of practice, the Bettercoal Code.
Martin Christie, Executive Director of Bettercoal said: “I am delighted that Gas Natural Fenosa has joined Bettercoal and is showing leadership in seeking to truly understand the ethical, social and environmental performance of the mines that supply its thermal power plants. As major global users of coal, our Members are keenly aware of the potential impact of mining activities, particularly for those who live and work close to the mines.
Martin added, “Gas Natural Fenosa joins Bettercoal at an exciting time on our journey. The Members of Bettercoal will soon adopt the Bettercoal Code. As a result, 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.”
Director of Wholesale Energy Markets at Gas Natural Fenosa, María Rosa Sanz, said that “Participating in the Bettercoal initiative with its high environmental and social standards will provide additional assurance that our acquisitions of coal meet certain criteria and conditions and that they align perfectly with our policy commitments on Human Rights “.
As a first key step, the initiative has developed a new code of practice that builds upon existing mining standards and recognizes current best practice in the industry. The Bettercoal Code sets out the ethical, social and environmental principles and provisions that 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. The results of these assessments will be shared between the members of Bettercoal.
The Bettercoal Code has been developed with support from an independent Stakeholder Advisory Group made up of experts from civil society, trade unions and the mining community. It has also been subject to a global public consultation process that included stakeholder meetings in South Africa, Colombia, Indonesia and Russia, all major coal producing countries.
The initiative is open for membership to major coal users from anywhere in the world, including energy utilities and industrial players such as cement manufacturers and steel makers. Initially, its focus will be on mines that supply the international markets however the Code, tools and experiences will be made available for the benefit of stakeholders worldwide.
