Vale and its corporate sustainability performance in Itabira, Brazil: is the glass half full or half empty?

Tubino, Denise Isabel Salomon; Yap, Nonita T.; Devlin, John F.

doi:10.3152/146155111x12913679730638

Cited by 7 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 9 publications

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“…The community of Itabira has long been using gendered metaphors to describe its evolving relationship with Vale (Chase, ). The pre‐1996 years, when the company was state‐owned, is known as the Mother or Sweet Mother period, because of Vale's direct and authoritarian participation in Itabira's affairs (Tubino et al ., ). This research project investigated the period between 1990 and 2010.…”

Section: Methodological Approachmentioning

confidence: 97%

“…Itabira mirrors the challenges of typical mining towns. The Vale-Itabira relationship has been analysed in the literature through numerous lenses, including demographics (Martins, 2003), gender (Chase, 2001), conflict (Atingidos, 2010;Silva et al, 2010), human rights (FIDH, 2011), macroeconomics (Alvarenga, 2006;Enriquez, 2009) and, increasingly, socio-environmental issues (Silva and Souza, 2002;Braga and Mikhailova, 2004;Rocha, 2008;Tubino et al, 2011). However, few, if any, studies have addressed the socio-environmental policies in a longitudinal and integrated manner, as this paper sets out to do.…”

Section: Methodological Approachmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Government and voluntary policymaking for sustainability in mining towns: A longitudinal analysis of Itabira, Brazil

Fonseca

Fitzpatrick

McAllister

2013

Natural Resources Forum

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The socio‐economic fabric of single‐company mining towns needs to be carefully considered by both Government and companies in sustainability policymaking. Policy design and effectiveness in such towns are significantly impacted by the city's economic dependence on a single company. This paper explores the perceived effectiveness of government and voluntary private sector mining policies for pursuing sustainability in the historic mining town of Itabira, Brazil over a period of 20 years. Itabira serves as a worthwhile case study because it allows for an in‐depth and longitudinal analysis that can reveal valuable lessons to policymakers of different sectors and jurisdictions located elsewhere. Based on extensive face‐to‐face interviews and literature reviews, study results indicate that changes to the state environmental licensing policies in the 1990s led to significant socio‐environmental improvements in the area. The globalization of the mining company also contributed to an increase in the quantity and quality of voluntary industry policies. Recent technological improvements in the beneficiation processes of the mining company promises to extend the life of the mine to 2050. Although there are significant incremental socio‐environmental policies and programmes, sustainability remains an elusive vision in Itabira, with no clear objectives or monitoring and accountability mechanisms. The paper concludes by recommending a more formal integrated policymaking framework.

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Section: Methodological Approachmentioning

confidence: 97%

Section: Methodological Approachmentioning

confidence: 99%

Government and voluntary policymaking for sustainability in mining towns: A longitudinal analysis of Itabira, Brazil

Fonseca

Fitzpatrick

McAllister

2013

Natural Resources Forum

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“…The act of depicting the company as a victim (or the belief that the company is the victim) held hostage to the excessive demands of opportunist communities. This sentiment is often widely held by project staff, alongside the sentiment that a company is "mother", the provider of all things in the community [100]. This strategy will likely lead to escalation, because it will annoy host communities (or at least some people) who regard their demands as legitimate.…”

Section: Victim Playingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Conceptualizing Company Response to Community Protest: Principles to Achieve a Social License to Operate

Vanclay

Hanna

2019

Land

122

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To gain a social license to operate and grow, companies should have effective community engagement activities, social impact assessment processes, environmental and social impact management procedures, and human rights-compatible grievance redress mechanisms in place. In this way, environmental impacts and social impacts would likely be identified and addressed before issues escalate and social risk amplifies. Companies also need to treat communities with respect and be mindful of local culture. Where these things are not done, there will be no social license to operate. Protests are mechanisms by which affected communities express their concerns and signal there is no social license. As argued in our previous work on conceptualizing social protests, protests are warning signs, as well as opportunities for companies to improve. Rather than let protest actions escalate, leading to violent confrontation and considerable cost and harm, companies should engage in meaningful dialogue with protesters. Unfortunately, company response is often inadequate or inappropriate. In this paper, we identify around 175 actions companies might take in relation to community protest, and we discuss how these actions variously have the potential to escalate or de-escalate conflict, depending on whether the company engages in appropriate and genuine interaction with protesters or if repressive measures are used. While effective engagement will likely de-escalate conflict, ignoring or repressing protests tends to provoke stronger reactions from groups seeking to have their concerns heard. When companies address community concerns early, their social license to operate is enhanced. We also outline the primary international standards companies are expected to comply with, and we identify the key environmental, social, and governance issues (ESG principles) that should be respected.proactively undertake actions to address the issues of concern and reduce the likelihood of protest. In this paper, we examine the wide range of reactive and proactive actions companies might take in relation to community protest, and we reflect on how these actions might affect the level of conflict with their host communities and the company's and project's social license to operate.Companies need to consider their actions and reactions carefully. If company reaction leads to escalation, this increases the amount of community protest and/or changes the type of protest action, which could lead to harmful outcomes to the company and community. Furthermore, communities and individuals have rights, and should companies use repressive actions, companies run the risk of violating the rights of local people, which could lead to reputational harm and legal action against the company well into the future [5][6][7]. The many legal actions the oil company, Shell, has had to face because of its actions (and inaction) in Nigeria in the 1990s is proof of this [8]. The negative publicity surrounding conflict can be harmful to the company's reputation and social license to op...

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“…A partir de 2007, a Vale começou a compor as estratégias na relação com os moradores ao longo da EFC, sobretudo pelo fato da duplicação da ferrovia. Para isso, a Vale, como forma de construir uma imagem de 'Mother Vale' (TUBINO et al, 2011), iniciou as ações de reconhecimento das lideranças do Francisco Romão e das comunidades circunvizinhas, além das formas de articulação destas. Isto através das visitas realizadas no assentamento.…”

Section: A Relação Das Empresas Com As Comunidades -Vale S/a E Assunclassified

A Responsabilidade Social Corporativa E O Relacionamento Com as Comunidades Rurais: O Caso Da Suzano Papel E Celulose E Da Vale, No Estado Do Maranhão, Nordeste Do Brasil

Castro¹,

Rodrigues²

2016

Encicl. Biosf.

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RESUMO A Responsabilidade Social Corporativa (RSC) é hoje um importante elemento político de legitimação social do modus econômico empresarial. No Brasil a RSC é também um componente no planejamento das empresas. Junto a isso o objetivo do estudo foi analisar criticamente como as empresas Suzano Papel e Celulose e a Vale vêm estabelecendo estratégias de RSC (e seu interesse), de relacionamento com as comunidades da Reserva Extrativista Ciriáco e do assentamento Francisco Romão, respectivamente, nos Municípios de Cidelândia e Açailândia, no Estado do Maranhão, Nordeste do Brasil. A fim de alcançar os objetivos propostos para este estudo foram desenvolvidos alguns procedimentos de pesquisa: 1) levantamento de dados (pesquisa de campo), entre agosto de agosto de 2014 a outubro de 2015; 2) entrevistas com lideranças e populações do Assentamento Francisco Romão (50 entrevistas) e da resex (14 entrevistas com as quebradeiras de coco); 3) entrevista com o departamento de comunicação social e de responsabilidade social das empresas (Suzano e Vale); 4) observações nas comunidades para identificar as ações, programas e planos (estratégias) das referidas empresas; 5) a análise da home page e dos "Relatórios de Sustentabilidade" das empresas. Percebeu-se que a relação da Vale com o Assentamento Francisco Romão com a criação de Programas sociais é conseguir a legitimação do modus operandi e evitar conflitos e paralisação de suas instalações. Já o relacionamento entre a Suzano e a Resex é buscar a antecipação de eventos conflituosos e dispersar um discurso, responsável e de importância da "eucaliptocultura".

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Vale and its corporate sustainability performance in Itabira, Brazil: is the glass half full or half empty?

Cited by 7 publications

References 9 publications

Government and voluntary policymaking for sustainability in mining towns: A longitudinal analysis of Itabira, Brazil

Government and voluntary policymaking for sustainability in mining towns: A longitudinal analysis of Itabira, Brazil

Conceptualizing Company Response to Community Protest: Principles to Achieve a Social License to Operate

A Responsabilidade Social Corporativa E O Relacionamento Com as Comunidades Rurais: O Caso Da Suzano Papel E Celulose E Da Vale, No Estado Do Maranhão, Nordeste Do Brasil

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