Antinuclear

“They would just ignore them, they would say you’re not really a shareholder,” she remembered over tea sandwiches served following Rio Tinto’s annual general shareholder meeting last month. “There was one big, black aboriginal man who got up on the stage to have his say. The company heavies came up and lifted him out bodily, by the feet. It was quite spectacular.”

This year, Rio Tinto’s 140th anniversary, the attitude toward international visitors was much different. Rio Tinto chairman Jan Du Plessis effusively thanked an Alaskan Native Yupik elder, a Mongolian woman speaking on behalf of nomadic herders and others for making the trip.

Rio Tinto, like other major mining companies, now goes to great lengths to emphasize its “partnerships” with local communities and specifically indigenous people. ……

But members of the increasingly organized international mining watchdog movement say the companies are ultimately still determined to mine wherever, whenever and however they desire, and in the least costly way.

Hence, they say, all this talk about social responsibility is largely rhetoric or “greenwashing” and that companies would have to do a lot more — including making financial sacrifices — to really change their ways………

Progress and priorities

Mine operators have battled with workers and local residents since the dawn of the large-scale mining industry in the mid-1800s; and naturally mining has been a major target of environmentalists since the birth of the environmental movement roughly a century later. In recent years these groups have increasingly worked together in monitoring and fighting mining companies……

The movement has become increasingly focused on London, which is headquarters to many of the world’s biggest mining companies along with the financial institutions that provide mines crucial capital and insurance. Toronto’s stock exchange lists more mining companies than London’s, but Canada is home to more “juniors” whereas the big-money operations are concentrated in London.

In June 2012 the International Institute for Environment and Development issued a 10th anniversary report card on the industry’s progress. It noted that “despite good intentions,” “implementation (of improved practices) across the sector has been highly variable.” It noted that competition from emerging economies, climate change and the increasing desire for governments to nationalize their mineral resources will complicate mining companies’ efforts to be more responsible…..

Now they [mining companies] rate community opposition among the top risk factors.”

Publicizing this risk is a primary reason that critics visit the shareholder meetings.

Though the most prominent investors rarely attend shareholder meetings and the important votes have already been cast ahead of time, people like Paine and peace activist Albert Beale see it as an important way to educate the public. During this year’s meeting, Beale asked why the 2012 annual report did not include the fact that Rio Tinto won the “Greenwash Gold” competition during the 2012 Olympics. Online voters chose Rio Tinto over BP and Dow as the company with the most disingenuous marketing during the Games, for which Rio Tinto provided metal for the medals…….http://www.globalpost.com/dispatches/globalpost-blogs/rights/activist-shareholders-mining-rio-tinto-anglo-american