Performance
Community engagement and regional economic development
Wherever we operate we seek to understand the social, environmental and economic implications of our activities, both for the local community and for the overall economy. Mutual benefits and obligations are discussed with local governments and community representatives. Objectives are agreed to secure long term results.
By understanding our socio-economic interaction with the communities where we operate we can optimise benefits and reduce negative impacts for communities and our operations alike. This interaction includes relationships with local suppliers, training and local employment, small enterprise support, the optimal distribution of taxes and royalties, and multilateral socio-economic programmes. The infrastructure developed for a particular mine or processing plant can also greatly benefit local communities and other regional players such as local businesses and governments.
Increased wealth in areas where there was previously little can have an adverse effect on inflation of goods and services. Rio Tinto actively manages such scenarios to avoid these negative outcomes. For example, together with the local community, we developed and implemented an inflation mitigation strategy at our QMM mineral sands mining project in Madagascar. This included:
- A rice purchasing plan.
- Diversifying the local market by improving regional transport.
- Awarding catering contracts to local community gardens.
- Building a boarding house and temporary camp to alleviate rental inflation.
To enable us to target the delivery of socioeconomic programmes reflecting the priorities of local communities, we conduct community baseline, social impact and social risk assessments to identify potential positive and negative impacts of our presence. We use this information along with community input to develop our multi year communities plans, which include local measures of success that are internally and externally monitored.
Our engagement has developed in sophistication over the years to where we now have systems that actively involve communities in decision making processes about issues affecting them. At our Weipa bauxite mine for example, land management processes ensure that all relevant traditional landowners make decisions together with our staff about all land clearing on the mining lease.
In 2008, our Rio Tinto businesses supported more than 2,500 socio-economic programmes covering a wide range of activities including health, education, business development, housing, environmental protection and agricultural development.
We spent an estimated US$134 million on community assistance programmes and payments into benefits receiving trusts set up in directly negotiated community impact benefit agreements. This is exclusive of economic multiplier contributions, such as salaries and wages, local procurement, infrastructure, housing and utilities support.
In 2007 we reported 18 high exposure sites requiring site managed community assessments before the end of 2008. During the year we re-evaluated the schedules for high exposure sites. From these reassessments the number of high exposure sites requiring assessment is 12, of which nine have been completed. The backlog was due to competing site priorities in a period of extraordinary workload. These assessments are on track for completion in 2009.
