Abstract
We develop a double proposal: a shift in the COP (Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change) efforts and output coupled with a deeper and more effective incorporation of the sustainability dimension in CSR. The mining sector in Brazil is the testing field for this endeavour, through specially designed corporate codes of conduct for the sector. The shift amounts to giving room to bottom-up agreements in which the Conference would exert a co-ordinating role, the measures being meaningless without the full engagement of the related actors. The codes of conduct follow a flexible and customised structure for answering sustainability demands. The methodology can be applied to a variety of significant groups of actors and situations; it can also be a factor for enlarging the scope of CSR instruments, bringing, at the side of traditional dimensions like labour and concerns for the communities involved, an explicit sustainability dimension. The approach can be spread to other countries and partners, enlarging its positive externalities and providing grounds for improvements and complements.
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Notes
- 1.
On November 5, 2015, a massive landslide from a collapsed dam from the mining company Samarco provoked devastating floods in the Rio Doce Valley, in Brazil. The accident is considered the biggest environmental catastrophe in the history of the country. Other chapters in this book also address this issue.
- 2.
Since, at least, the ‘Partnerships for Financing Equitable and Effective Climate Action’ seminar, Paris, July 15–16, 2015, jointly organised by ORF/India and FGV/Brazil, under the sponsorship of the Ministère des Affaires Étrangères et du Développement International/République Française, and GIZ/Deutschland.
- 3.
COP is the (annual) Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change.
- 4.
What has been once again confirmed in the COP22, in 2016, in Morocco.
- 5.
See Article 9, COP21, mentioned in Sect. 2.1 before.
- 6.
This point has gained an unfortunate support with the very recent decision by the US to withdraw from the Paris Agreement. As clearly stated by the US President, when announcing the decision to the press, financial burden played a major role in it.
- 7.
See also Drummond and Flôres (2014).
- 8.
Perceptions on the relative importance of the different components of the ecosystem provide a good example of this.
- 9.
At least 40% of Vale’s annual revenues come from its exports to China.
- 10.
Source: The Observatory of Mining Conflicts in Latin America.
- 11.
At the time of this paper (mid 2017), not much had happened in this line.
- 12.
Vale and BHP Billinton jointly own Samarco.
- 13.
To avoid any misunderstanding, the talks, though detailed and comprehensive, where informal. They did not follow a scheme of structured interviews on a preassigned, even if not representative, sample.
- 14.
This was one of the main faults responsible for the Samarco catastrophe.
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Acknowledgments
This Chapter draws on work made for a GIZ/EPF (Germany) funded project, on ways to engage the productive sector on the climate change debate, conducted by FGV/International Intelligence Unit. I thank, for different reasons, Betina Sachsse, Daniel Taras and Flávio B. Guimarães; as well as the book referees for extremely careful work. The Author is however solely responsible for all ideas and statements in the text, which do not express the viewpoints of any institution or another person(s).
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Flôres, R.G. (2019). A Sustainable CSR Instrument for the Brazilian Mining Sector. In: Stehr, C., Dziatzko, N., Struve, F. (eds) Corporate Social Responsibility in Brazil. CSR, Sustainability, Ethics & Governance. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-90605-8_17
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