The AP Funds’ Council on Ethics, together with the Church of England Pension Board, have won PRI’s Stewardship Project of the Year Award for its Investor Mining and Tailings Safety initiative which aims to ensure that the world’s tailing dams are secure. The prize is awarded by the UN-supported organization Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI).
Tailing dams are some of the largest constructions in the world. If they fail there is a great risk of people dying or being injured and a significant negative impact on the environment. That is why it is crucial to increase transparency about how these dams are operated from a safety point of view and to establish a global standard for tailings dams.
Through co-operation and with the support of many other investors, the Council on Ethics has brought about a number of different changes in the industry, including a new global industry standard for tailing dams. This standard was developed in collaboration between the UN Environment Program UNEP, investors (PRI) and the mining companies through the International Council on Mining and Metals (ICMM). A new public global database, where listed mining companies in detail have given data of about 2000 tailing dams. The coalition is now working with the UN to set up an independent institute to drive the implementation of the standard worldwide.
The Secretary General of the Council on Ethics John Howchin;
“We have been working on the project for almost two years and are very proud for this award. We are also aware that much work remains to prevent people from losing their lives and the environment being destroyed if these dams collapse. We have established a good model of co-operation with global companies, investors and UN organizations. I believe and hope that we can use it for more projects in the future.”
For more information about the Award: https://www.unpri.org/winners-of-the-pri-awards-2020/6518.article#Stewardship_project_of_the_year
For further information, please contact:
John Howchin, Secretary General, Council on Ethics of the Swedish National Pension Funds, phone +46 (0)8-555 17 176, john.howchin@councilonethics.org
Christina Olivecrona, Chairman, Council on Ethics of the Swedish National Pension Funds, phone: +46 (0)31-704 29 00, christina.olivecrona@ap2.se
The Council on Ethics conducts its work based on the AP Funds’ assignment to create high long-term returns with low risk for current and future retirees, and on the common core value: to take a proactive approach to sustainable development, and to demand and act in the name of transparency and positive change. The Council on Ethics works proactively as well as reactively, engaging with the AP Funds’ global portfolio of companies. The starting point is that well-managed and responsible companies create higher long-term returns with lower risk. The aim of the Council is to ensure that companies and industries conduct their sustainability work in a systematic, structured and transparent way.
