Developing responsible mining in Colombia by improving environmental impact assessment process and corporate social responsibility approach
During the last decade, mining activity in Colombia is becoming a strong sector due to the political and economic incentives government gave to support foreign investment. This promotion and economic development should go hand by hand with environmental and social protection as it has an important contribution to the total GDP of the country. There are a high number of mining projects currently under development but despite the existence of laws, policies and regulations, there is a continuous environmental negative impact on the environment and several social problems are emerging.
As a result of the current natural resource degradation, represented in a high rate of decline in vegetation cover, the increase of plant and animal species threatened, contamination of surface and ground water sources, poor air quality in major cities, land use conflicts and conditions of inadequate quality of life for the population, becomes urgent to develop responsible mining. With the aim of achieving this purpose, is necessary to evaluate the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) process, which is the main tool to evaluate and assess the impacts generated during a project, work or activity and make decisions as Decree 2820 of 2010 states on the other hand the Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) approach is not ruled by any law but is the voluntary role of business towards society to respond to their needs and expectations.
The purpose of the study is to determine the actual and potential role of EIA and CSR, both separately and if used together as decision-making and management tools. To attain the objectives of the research, a discourse analysis between different actors is used as a research strategy in order to find the answers to the research questions by collecting data through relevant documents and interviews with experts in mining, CSR and EIA process from Ministries, academy and mining companies. In this way, different perceptions on EIA and CSR are obtained, in order to determine how one improves the other or not to achieve environmental and social objectives.
The findings reveal that, according to the perceptions of some environmental experts, the EIA process in Colombia is still a weak tool; it coincides with the study developed by the General Comptroller of the Republic in 2005-2006 which states that the whole licensing process (which includes the EIA) is inefficient in many aspects. It is not being used in the appropriate way, consequently does not meet the purpose of adequately protecting the environment; the analysis revealed that the main reasons for these problems are the lack of state-regulated methodologies and the moderate control to the process. Additionally, there is not a shared agenda between the Ministry of Environment and Ministry of Mines, which leads to take wrong decisions that are detrimental to either environmental protection or mining development.
Regarding the Corporate Social Responsibility approach in Colombia, mining companies always work with their stakeholders developing different strategies; in most of the cases they use this approach to gain approval of communities and the social license to operate. Organizations use different instruments in order to respond to both employees and members of their geographical communities of influence. In most of the cases, their requirements centers on two main areas: basic education for them and their families and microbusiness initiatives.
Even though there is no mining activity without impact, for sure there is responsible mining with less impact. The important issue is to make sure that the technical, social, economical and environmental aspects will be considered to develop a project. Moreover the guidelines proposed by the Ministry of Environment, the existent legal framework and the tools the country has, should be respected and used appropriately with the support of all the stakeholders involved in order to combine the so called “engine of the economy” with the protection of the environment and Colombian society.
Fuente:
Biblioteca Virtual Banco de la República
Tipo de contenido:
Tesis
