Sustainability Report Review Panel
Our belief in the value of engagement extends to our sustainability reporting. We assembled a Panel representing a diversity of interests and expertise to review our completed 2007 Sustainability Report so that we could learn how to improve our reporting for 2008 and beyond. We are extremely grateful to all the Panel members for giving us the benefit of their experience and helping us to improve future reports. The responsibility for acting on their advice rests with Teck.
Panel Structure – How we did it
We selected individual Panellists based on their experience, their perspective, and their ability and willingness to tell us frankly what we need to know. All of the Panellists, with the exception of the two employees, were independent of Teck. The Panel included the following people:
- Chris Ballance, Ethical Funds, Analyst
- Stuart Burwash, Trail Smelter employee, local safety committee representative
- Karen Campbell, Pembina Institute, Director of Strategy and Staff Counsel
- Sam Costa, Highland Valley Copper, Senior Training Foreman
- Anne Currie, BC Government
- Cort Gallop, Fort McKay Metis Group
- Uwafiokun Idemudia, York University, Professor with research interests in natural resource conflict and international development
- James Morin, BC Institute of Technology, Aboriginal Minerals Training Program
- Richard Prokopanko, Rio Tinto Alcan, Director of Corporate Affairs and Sustainability
The Panel met for a day and a half in Vancouver at an off-site location and was facilitated by an independent consultant from Solstice Sustainability Works Inc. Members of Teck’s Sustainability Report Working Group attended at the beginning to share information on how the report was prepared and at the end to hear a summary of the feedback. The Panel focused their review on the printed report, but had access to the detailed information on the sustainability section of Teck’s website.
The facilitator circulated detailed notes from the two days to all Panel members for review and prepared this Review Report for Teck to add our response. Panel members then reviewed the finished Review Report and agreed to have their name included. Panellists were reimbursed for travel costs and were offered a modest honorarium which they could donate to a charity of their choice.
Panel Results – What we learned
Opening up sustainability reporting to independent critique is still a fairly new practice for companies, so we were encouraged that the Panel showed appreciation for Teck’s commitment to transparent reporting. The Panel commented on report structure, presentation and content, and made several recommendations. In the course of reviewing the report they also provided insight that will be of value in the evolution of our sustainability strategy.