Cliffs Releases First Sustainable Development Report
08/12/2009 - Cliffs Natural Resources publishes its first Sustainable Development Report, providing an overview of the environmental, social and economic impacts of the company’s operations.
Cliffs Natural Resources Inc. has published its first Sustainable Development Report, which provides an overview of the environmental, social and economic impacts of the company’s operations. The report also highlights the company’s goals for further implementation of sustainable and socially responsible practices across all aspects of its business.
“With our substantial growth in recent years, Cliffs is now of a size and scale that requires us to expand our focus beyond an excellent safety record, and we must place similar importance on other core sustainability values, such as health and wellness, environmental protection and economic impact,” said Joseph Carrabba, Cliffs Chairman, President and CEO. “That is the intent of this first report, to share the current state of the company, both where we have historically performed well, and where we have some opportunities for improvement.”
Written in accordance with the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) Sustainability Reporting Guidelines, Cliffs’ Sustainability Report aims to establish baselines within several key sustainability areas, including:
- Governance, Management and Transparency
- Environmental Stewardship
- Promoting Sustainable Development in Local Communities
- Economic Impact
- Respecting Employees
Cliffs aims to act as an agent of positive change in its communities by continuously measuring performance, setting targets and programs.
Cliffs Natural Resources, an international mining and natural resources company, is the largest producer of iron ore pellets in North America, a major supplier of direct-shipping lump and fines iron ore out of Australia and a significant producer of metallurgical coal. With core values of environmental and capital stewardship, the company’s employees endeavor to provide stakeholders operating and financial transparency as embodied in the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) framework. The company is organized through three geographic business units: North American, Asia Pacific, and South American.
The North American business unit comprises six iron ore mines owned or managed in Michigan, Minnesota and Eastern Canada, and two coking coal mining complexes located in West Virginia and Alabama. The Asia Pacific business unit comprises two iron ore mining complexes in Western Australia and a 45% economic interest in a coking and thermal coal mine in Queensland, Australia. The South American business unit includes a 30% interest in the Amapá Project, an iron ore project in the state of Amapá in Brazil.
In recent years, Cliffs has been executing a strategy designed to achieve scale in the mining industry and has focused on serving the world’s largest and fastest growing steel markets.
