CLE Online

Welcome and Introduction

Karim N. Ramji — Donovan & Company, Vancouver

Law, Sustainability, and the Role of Lawyers: An Easy Embrace or a Complicated Space?

• exploring the space: values, principles, processes, practices—between law and sustainability
• walking the lawyer line between problem maker or solver in land and resource fights and deals
• scaling the face where big problems meet communities, companies, and governments
• advancing the interests of your clients and helping to build a sustainable future
• building of experience from the ground up as a counsel, adjudicator, and mediator

Glenn Sigurdson, QC — Mediator and Counsel, West Vancouver

The Mining Footprint—From Exploration, Development, Construction, and Operation, to Closure

• the physical footprint of mining
• infrastructure and access
• water use impacts
• environmental concerns
• health and safety

Dr. Malcolm Scoble — Professor & Robert E. Hallbauer Chair in Mining Engineering, Norman B. Keevil Institute of Mining Engineering, University of BC, Vancouver
Dr. Janis Shandro — Post-doctoral Fellow, Norman B. Keevil Institute of Mining Engineering, University of BC, Vancouver

Human Rights and the Extractive Sector

• the evolution of CSR
• the human rights framework
• the business case
  • risk mitigation
  • social licence to operate
  • hardening of soft laws
• ruggie—the UN guiding principles on business and human rights
  • a new global standard
  • human rights due diligence
• leadership examples

Alison Colwell — Manager, Advisory Services, BSR, San Francisco, CA

Networking Break

Indigenous People

• legally unique stakeholders
• legal recognition
  • international
  • national laws
• gaps in national laws
• FPIC—consent or consult
  • ongoing debate—Miningwatch, ICCM
  • implications
• alliances with other stakeholders
• due diligence considerations
• partner selection
  • ability to bring a project to fruition
  • structure of the transaction
  • key people remaining?
• project selection
  • the CSR footprint?
  • expectations/promises made
  • status of the relationship
  • level of support/opposition

Karim N. Ramji — Donovan & Company, Vancouver

Lunch

Challenges of Implementation: Integrating CSR From Corporate Head Offices to the Local Village

• clear corporate mandate and commitment
• identification and assessment of the project impacts, Indigenous peoples, and vulnerable groups
• human rights impact assessments in context
• local and national issues—spheres of influence
•   
• relationship building exercise—the process
• leadership, integrity, transparency, and communication—the people
• impact benefits agreements
• practical considerations
• case studies

Susan Joyce, MSc, Dip AgSci — On Common Ground Consultants Inc., Vancouver

Networking Break

The Business Case For Sustainability

• business value and the licence to operate
• embedding sustainability in the business
• evolution of risk through sustainability
• implications of sustainability in financing
  • evolving requirements for debt
  • changing circumstances for equity
• case studies

Ronald O. Nielsen — Senior Director - Global Sustainability at Cliffs Natural Resources, Cleveland, OH

Closing Thoughts

• shifting landscapes
• assess and converting surface risks to development opportunities
• new social contract—now called CSR

Karim N. Ramji — Donovan & Company, Vancouver