Sustainable development integration
In the pursuit of its objectives, KGHM Polska Miedź S.A. focuses on creating added value while ensuring solid foundations for its enterprise and employees and achieving long-term success.
KGHM operates based on the principles of sustainable development, reflecting in its daily activities obligations in areas such as Society, the Environment, the Economy, Safety and Resource Efficiency. The principle of running our business in line with the sustainable development concept and of being a leader in this respect affect, among others, the level of business activity and long-term operation of the KGHM Group. This, in turn, entails the awareness of responsibility for rational and sustainable utilisation of our resources and for the Group’s enormous impact on its environment, both social and natural. The Group provides employment to over 34 thousand people, which supports the development of cooperating entities and drives the economy
The Company wants to make smart investments in new technologies, innovative solutions, best available practices and employee development. KGHM Polska Miedź S.A. is aware that sustainable development of the mineral resource industry has become a global challenge for the modern world. Sustainable development is essential to our mineral resource safety and to ensuring the comfort of life of our employees and society as a whole as well as to protecting the natural environment. The Company operates based on the principles of sustainable development, reflecting in its daily activities obligations in areas such as Society, the Environment, the Economy, Safety and Resource Efficiency.
The diagram below presents the Sustainable Development Areas of KGHM Polska Miedź S.A.:
Sustainable Development Areas of KGHM Polska Miedź S.A.
KGHM Polska Miedź S.A. pursues sustainable development principles among others through cooperation with European partners as part of international organisations grouped together around the European Commission. The Company creates and supports the measures of the EU new industrial policy as part of the European Innovation Partnership (EIP), through participation in High Level Group meetings. This also involves the Company’s active participation in the Master Programs of the European Union and the programs of the European Institute of Innovation and Technology for EIT KIC Raw Materials. A representative of KGHM also serves as the President of the European Technology Platform on Sustainable Mineral Resources in Brussels. Implementation of the Platform’s objectives contributes to the medium- and long-term security of stable procurement of raw materials (including key raw materials, industrial mineral materials and wooden materials) which are indispensable for the fulfilment of the basic needs of any modern society striving to achieve efficient resource utilisation. The Platform also has an advisory role in the creation of the EIP’s raw materials policy.
The sustainable development activities undertaken by KGHM Polska Miedź S.A. are fully and comprehensively consistent with the United Nation’s sustainable development goals (2030 Agenda), as presented below:
KGHM’s activity and the United Nations’ sustainable development goals for 2030 (2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development)
The positive aspects of KGHM Polska Miedź S.A.’s activity drive economic growth in the region. The Group employs more than 34 thousand people, most of them in the area of the so-called “Copper Basin”. The Company’s business drives the development of cooperating companies and the economy, which has direct effect on reduction of poverty, elimination of hunger and development of the areas neighbouring the Company’s operations. The Company also takes care of the health and well-being of not only its employees and their families, but of all the region’s residents. To this end it operates Miedziowe Centrum Zdrowia (“Copper Health Care Centre”), implements health promotion programs and awards grants to health care providers. KGHM Polska Miedź S.A. has a direct effect on the quality education goal. The region, in which the Company operates, is relatively affluent, mainly because of its presence. As a result, more people can afford to get additional education and obtain additional qualifications. Furthermore, KGHM cooperates with many universities and academics. The Company encourages its employees to pursue continuous development, offering many attractive paths of competence improvement. Actions taken by KGHM contribute directly to reduced inequalities among people.
Access to health care, dignified employment and education helps to level out such inequalities that may develop in the society. Consequently, KGHM is also involved in the implementation of the sustainable cities and communities goal. Other objectives pursued by the Company include responsible consumption and innovative production. KGHM strives to ensure that the entire technological process is as optimal, safe, innovative and sustainable as possible. It seeks methods to improve it even further. It manages resources rationally, but at the same time strives to eliminate waste. The Company has been committed to the concept of circular economy moving away from the linear economy towards the closed cycle of material consumption. To this end the Circular Economy program is also developed in the Company. The practices of KGHM Polska Miedź S.A. indicate that the mineral resource industry is inextricably linked to many more sustainable development goals than those considered to be typical for the sector. Partnership for the goals is an important part of the 2030 Agenda. As a Company, we wish to join forces and intensify the activities designed to cooperate with institutions who equally cherish the idea of sustainable development.
In this context, KGHM Polska Miedź S.A. is obviously aware of the impact of these goals on mining activity; accordingly, it focuses mainly on the implementation of the measures presented below:
Impact of each goal set under the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development on the mining industry
The activities described above resulted in the development of KGHM Polska Miedź S.A.’s sustainable value chain, as presented in the diagram below.