GoldCorp Human Rights and CSR Policies

Actions Speak Louder than Words: A Critical Analysis of GoldCorp’s Human Rights and Corporate Social Responsibility Policies, is an authoritative report released today by the International Human Rights Program at the University of Toronto, Faculty of Law. The report provides critical information to GoldCorp’s management and shareholders in advance of its AGM scheduled for Wednesday, May 18. 2011 in Vancouver B.C. At the AGM, shareholders will be asked to vote on an important resolution impacting the human rights of Indigenous communities in Guatemala; this report, which provides an unbiased assessment of GoldCorp’s stated commitments to human rights, will be essential for shareholders deciding how to vote. Whatever the outcome of the shareholder resolution, the report will be helpful to GoldCorp management as it seeks to operationalize the corporation's stated commitments to human rights.

 

In Actions Speak Louder than Words, the IHRP finds that, while GoldCorp's Human Rights and Corporate Social Responsibility Policies are a step forward, they are deficient in key respects. The policies do not require GoldCorp to assess the human rights impact of projects at the outset, obtain independent assessments of human rights performance, or remedy harm caused. The policies also omit any mention of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and make no clear commitment to the right of Indigenous Peoples to free, prior and informed consent. Notably, the policies are ambiguous in their application to the corporation itself, as a distinct legal personality beyond its employees.