Nickel Asia first Philippines mining firm to join UN sustainability initiative

MANILA, Philippines — Nickel Asia Corp. (NAC) has been acknowledged as the first mining company in the Philippines accepted among the newest members of the United Nations Global Compact (UNGC).

The world’s largest sustainability initiative, UNGC “supports global companies that are committed to responsible business practices in the areas of human rights, labor, the environment, and corruption”.

Officially launched at the UN headquarters in New York in 2000, UNGC is based on a series of principles that must be followed in order for a company to maintain its environmental and social responsibilities.

“This is a huge deal for all of us at NAC because it effectively binds us to the proverbial umbilical cord of what UNGC represents to the world,” said Dennis Zamora, president and CEO of NAC and son of mining icon Manny Zamora.

In order to be considered as member, NAC had to lay bare to UNGC its value system and its approach to doing business in the communities. NAC also had to share how the company’s relationships with all its stakeholders are the actual narratives of its best mining practices.

UNGC emphasizes that “member companies of the UN Global Compact are expected to act in environmentally responsible ways with regard to climate change, water and sanitation, energy, biodiversity, and food and agriculture. They are also expected to recognize the link between environmental issues, and social and development priorities”.

JB Baylon, NAC VP for corporate communications, said the standard operating procedures in all the mining companies under the NAC umbrella have long been setting the stage for the UNGC membership.

“The UNGC principles have been integrated in our corporate strategies and day-to-day operations and our membership to this global pact exposes the NAC companies to a more intense peer review which in effect will be beneficial to the industry as a whole because, as you see, mining continues to fight in the reputation category and UNGC will help demonstrate our track record as we publicly report on how effectively we manage environment, social and governance issues,” he said.