By: Jay Nelson, TVIRD Vice President for Environment and Civil Works and Head, GRI Technical Working Group
Sustainability reporting has fast become an essential management activity for organizations around the world. Recognizing the value in this type of reporting, TVIRD will soon release its first sustainability report for the Year 2009 operations. Although TVIRD had previously produced regulatory based sustainability reports in the form of annual environmental protection plans and social development programs, this report will be different in that it follows the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) guidelines. This particular reporting medium has become the most widely used sustainability reporting method in the world and is used by thousands of companies and organizations around the world. The mining sector is well represented within this group with the majority of major mining companies now producing sustainability reports using the GRI guidelines. The vision of the GRI is that disclosure of economic, environmental and social performance should be as commonplace and comparable as financial reporting and just as important to organizational success.
Education is one of the four main areas where TVIRD focuses its social development initiatives. Above, boys who otherwise would have stayed out of school because of a lack of learning institutions in their remote village of Kilalaban in Siocon, Zamboanga del Norte, now have their own school, which TVIRD donated. Below, TVIRD partners with reputable organizations like the Asia Foundation to bring quality reference books to schoolchildren of Canatuan, the company’s host indigenous Subanon community, and surrounding villages.
Specific protocols and reporting guidelines are used and all reports are registered with the GRI in Amsterdam, Netherlands. The reports are public and allow for increased transparency, the opportunity to compare sustainability programs with other companies and to identify areas of improvement for sustainability activities and reporting.
Preparation of the TVIRD sustainability report is under the direction of our TVIRD president, Atty. Eugene Mateo. As he has stated to our employees, “Reporting on sustainability performance is an important way for us to manage our impact on sustainable development, whose challenges are many. As a growing company we have not only the responsibility but also the ability to exert positive changes on the economy, environment and social conditions of our host communities and stakeholders.”
As part of its social outreach programs, TVIRD has conducted dozens of medial missions in far-flung rural areas in Zamboanga del Norte where medical care was previously unheard of by impoverished residents. Above, TVIRD personnel take stock of free medicines they will distribute to hundreds of townsfolk in Jose Dalman, one of TVIRD’s expansion areas in Zamboanga del Norte.
Unique to this style of reporting is that it is entirely voluntary and includes discussions of the management approach to sustainable actions and performance indicators to measure how well the goals and objectives have been met. The GRI framework has been developed through a systematic process and consensus-seeking dialogue with a large group of organizations and individuals from over 60 countries. These groups represent a wide cross section of society and truly provide a global perspective on key sustainability issues.
When complete, this report will be the first GRI registered sustainability report produced by a Philippine operating mining company. It will give us a benchmark of what we have accomplished, guide us in further developing our sustainability programs and allow us to compare our performance within the company and with other organizations. As further stated by Atty Mateo, “We subscribe to the principle that sustainability is about operating in ways that meet and integrate existing environmental, economic and social needs without compromising the well being of future generations.”
Above, members of the Canatuan Multi-partite Monitoring Team take water samples from the Lituban River, one of Siocon’s water tributaries, to monitor water quality and ensure that TVIRD’s operations do not harm the environment. Below, the author (left) with Colin Hubo, GRI Consultant and professor at the University of Asia and the Pacific.
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