Propuestas para el sector minero en Perú: ser parte de la solución “Los mapas antiguos no se pueden utilizar para explorar un nuevo mundo”. A. Einstein.

Por: Gustavo Cabrera Sotomayor, consultor internacional en ESG y sostenibilidad en minería – LATAM.

Abstract

In recent years, the Mining Sector at a global level is going through a period of uncertainty characterized by multiple challenges and global factors (climate change and community expectations, political uncertainty, among others) that motivate the adoption of new corporate management models towards Sustainable Mining which implies leaving behind its defensive sustainability and risk management schemes to adopt shared value schemes with sustainable social impact instead. This document proposes that, to make this new approach viable, the mining sector must incorporate as a central objective in its business model and corporate governance to become a Partner for Sustainable Development (SDS) that generates and manages economic, environmental, and social value (EES value creation) in the territories where it operates from an Integrated Territorial Development (ITD) perspective. 

This new perspective, in turn, requires the systematic adoption of four basic principles in corporate governance models: a) Development of a social impact assessment (SIA), b) Sustainable Development License to Operate (SDLO) Approach, c) Inclusion of the SDG strategy in management plans and social impact under an integrated territorial development approach, and d) New local territorial Social Contract as an ethical framework for communities’ interaction.

The document proposes that the Mining Sector, through its institutional and corporate representation (SNMPE, IIMP), assume a catalytic role, leadership, and greater responsibility in achieving social impact objectives (SDG) in the territories where it operates, becoming a promoter and articulator of the territorial governance playing a proactive role in the structural transformation of local economies, seeking a transformative association of all relevant actors in the territory. Likewise, it is proposed that the implementation of this ambitious objective requires structural changes in the business paradigms of sustainability management, seeking territorial competitiveness and sustainable development from a broader perspective of “shared value creation” in the mining sector where interventions that are favored strengthen local capacities and permanent search for long-term benefits. Clear strategies of Local Content and Institutional Strengthening cannot be absent in this new scheme to make sustainable development initiatives viable.

In the case of the Mining Sector in Peru, it is proposed to initiate a national crusade for achievements in SDGs as an objective expression of “impact or social profitability” of mining from an integrated territorial development approach (ITD), seeking to standardize the mining social management frameworks and strengthening public management capacities at the local level, implementing development plans for economic-productive corridors, mining clusters and territorial productive diversification, together with state and international cooperation entities.