Indigenous Peoples

Our business interacts with many diverse communities around the world. We respect the rights, interests, and aspirations of Indigenous Peoples and acknowledge their right to maintain their culture, identity, traditions and customs. 

Some of our industrial assets are located on or near the traditional lands of Indigenous Peoples. 

We are focused on meaningful engagement with Indigenous communities, grounded in sustainable development, mutual respect, and long-term success.

We adopt and apply engagement and consultation processes that seek to ensure the meaningful participation of Indigenous communities in decision-making that is consistent with their traditional engagement protocols and governance processes. 

Through good faith negotiation, we seek to reach mutually beneficial agreements with Indigenous Peoples who have an interest in or connection to the land on which we operate.

We seek to avoid involuntary resettlement whenever possible in alignment with good practice as articulated in International Finance Corporation (IFC)  Performance Standard 5: Land Acquisition and Involuntary Resettlement.  Performance Standard 5 applies to both physical displacement, which is the 
relocation or loss of shelter, and economic displacement, which is the loss of assets or access to assets that leads to loss of income sources.

Where resettlement is unavoidable, we aim to minimise its impacts from the outset. We then follow the requirements in the standard to offer fair compensation for land and assets and to restore or improve livelihoods. 

Active engagement and consultation with affected communities are central to the whole process as well as special attention and assistance for potentially vulnerable individuals or groups. An accessible and transparent grievance mechanism is important in ensuring that any complaints regarding  land acquisition or resettlement are resolved.

We are committed to working with Indigenous Peoples to identify, protect and manage both tangible and intangible cultural heritage that may be affected by our industrial assets. Our industrial assets with cultural heritage responsibilities are required to identify and address the potential impacts of our business on cultural heritage values and archaeologically sensitive locations through the identification, recording and protection of these values and locations within our landholdings. This includes, wherever possible, working or partnering with cultural heritage stakeholders for the ongoing protection and management of cultural heritage.

In coordination with Indigenous communities, our local teams support initiatives  that help preserve local culture and intangible cultural heritage. These include  support for traditional festivities, the promotion and respect of local languages, as  well as the celebration of cultural expressions such as dance, music and other  activities of significance to Indigenous Peoples.