Mines collaborate with Bettercoal

Mines in Australia, Colombia, Germany, Indonesia, Russia, South Africa the USA and UK are already included in our Assessment Program.

To date, twelve coal suppliers have completed Self-Assessment Questionnaires (SAQ) as a first step within the Assessment process, including: Anglo American, Coal & Allied Industries Ltd (Rio Tinto), Korchakol LLC, Kuzbassrazrezugol Coal Company OJSC, Peabody Energy, PT Adaro Indonesia, and Taldinskaya Fuel & Energy Company CJSC. One supplier, Drummond Company, Inc, Itochu Corp, has gone on to perform a Site-Assessment with an independent third-party assessor and is currently implementing a Continuous Improvement Plan following the site-assessment. A Re-Assessment is planned for later this year. We extend our thanks to these mines for their collaboration, work and foresight.

In recognition of their efforts, and to improve the transparency of the Assessment program, Bettercoal has published a table of Participating Suppliers, that includes information such as where the mine is located, at what stage the mine is within the Assessment process and key dates. The public disclosure of companies participating in any sustainability certification or verification scheme (as in the case of Bettercoal) is a key aspect in ensuring transparency of the assurance process.

Bettercoal has established the key components of the Assessment cycle (Self-Assessment, Site-Assessment, Continuous Improvement Plan and Re-Assessment), however, certain areas of the assurance framework will need to be further defined and strengthened to ensure that it is transparent, independent, consistent and rigorous.

Bettercoal and its members work alongside suppliers to support a system of incremental progress if and where needed. We will also promote examples of best-practice from suppliers as part of a shared learning cycle. Alongside the launch of the ‘Participating Suppliers’ webpage, we have made some further updates on the Assessment Program section of our website. We will add more information in the coming months.