Gabriel Resources has expanded its commitment to corporate social responsibility by adopting the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) guidelines for multinational enterprises. The OECD guidelines, one of the world’s foremost corporate responsibility instruments, contain voluntary principles and standards for responsible business conduct.
The OECD guidelines are the means through which the OECD seeks to integrate core values in the areas of human rights, labour standards, the environment and anti-corruption into its work on international investment so as to help the OECD advance its mission of enhancing the contribution of investment to growth and sustainable development. The guidelines aim to promote the positive contributions multinational enterprises can make to economic, environmental and social progress.
The OECD guidelines are the only multilaterally endorsed and comprehensive code of conduct that governments are committed to promoting. The 37 countries that now adhere to the guidelines are the source of most of the world’s foreign direct investment. Both Canada and Romania adhere to and actively promote the guidelines. The Government of Romania formally adopted the OECD declaration on international investment and multinational enterprises in April 2005.
“We often hear from critics of globalization that internationalization will lead to a ‘race to the bottom’, where companies look for the least restrictive rules and regulations,” said Gabriel President and CEO Alan Hill. “But the fact is that globalization, when it encourages companies to play to the highest international standards, can be a race to the top.”
Gabriel’s adoption of the guidelines expands its existing commitment to corporate social responsibility, with a clear example of that commitment being the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) prepared for the development of the proposed new mine at Rosia Montana in western Romania. Gabriel’s EIA is in compliance with all Romanian and EU legislation, as well as international best practices, with respect to mining projects. As set forth in the OECD guidelines, the Rosia Montana project does not seek any relief or exemption from legislative requirements regarding environmental matters. “Our Rosia Montana project complies with the most stringent standards applicable to a mining enterprise,” continued Hill. “We have designed Rosia Montana to meet EU and international standards from day one – and when Romanian standards are more stringent than the comparable EU or international standards, we’ll be governed by the Romanian standards.
