Community Consent Report Launch and Discussion Panel

When: Wednesday, September 26, 2012 | 4:00 to 5:30 pm

WHERE: Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, 1779 Massachusetts Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20036

WHAT: A panel discussion on Oxfam’s Community Consent Index, a report on public commitments made, and policies & procedures published, by major oil, gas and mining companies concerning community rights. The focus is on community consent and social license to operate. Panel will include a discussion of the report findings, points of view on what it means for the industry, as well as provide a chance for participants to ask questions.

Watch a recording of the panel discussion.

WHO

• Dr. Chris Anderson, Americas Director, Communities & Social Performance, Rio Tinto Limited
• Paul Bugala, Senior Sustainability Analyst for Extractive Industries, Calvert Investments, Inc.
• Anne Perrault, Consultant
• Raymond C. Offenheiser, President, Oxfam America
• Emily Greenspan, Policy and Advocacy Advisor, Oxfam America
• Marianne Voss, Senior Advisor, Oxfam America

(A representative from the International Financial Corporation has been invited)

» CONTACT to RSVP and for more information: Noémie Hailu at nhailu@oxfamamerica.org

Read the report.

» DISCUSSANT BIOGRAPHIES

Dr. Chris Anderson, Americas Director, Communities & Social Performance, Rio Tinto Limited: Dr. Chris Anderson commenced with Rio Tinto in September 2011. He is the strategy leader and corporate functional lead for Communities in the Americas, with a particular focus on Indigenous communities. He also contributes to Indigenous communities work worldwide and provides advice and support to operations on Rio Tinto standards on communities practice, in particular contributing to the Group’s community agreement-making innovation and implementation. Anderson previously worked since 2005 for Newmont Mining Corporation as Director, Corporate & External Affairs Africa, having previously served as Group Executive Social Responsibility in Newmont Mining Corporation in Denver, USA from 2002. Prior to joining Newmont, Dr. Anderson was Executive General Manager Public Affairs for Normandy Mining, Australia’s largest gold company. He was Chief Executive of the South Australian Museum from 1993 to 1998 and previously taught anthropology at the Universities of California at Los Angeles, Queensland, and Adelaide. Dr. Anderson is a specialist in community relations, stakeholder engagement and cross-cultural consultation. Dr. Anderson received his Bachelor of Arts degree (Hons.) in Anthropology, a Ph.D. in Anthropology and a Diploma of Organizational Psychology all from Queensland University.

Paul Bugala, Senior Sustainability Analyst for Extractive Industries, Calvert Investments, Inc.: Paul Bugala heads environmental, social and governance (ESG) research and advocacy for the extractive industries at Calvert Investments, Inc., and  Calvert’s advocacy with the oil, gas, and mining companies held in Calvert’s Large Cap Value and Equity Income Funds. He is a member of sustainability advisory groups for Newmont Mining, Suncor Energy, and Sunoco, and is a member of the United Nations Principles for Responsible Investing working groups on Carbon Disclosure and the Rights of Indigenous Peoples as well as Amnesty International USA’s Business and Human Rights Advisory Group. He has spoken widely on extractive industries sustainability issues at venues such as the World Bank, the U.S. State Department, and meetings of the International Accounting Standards Board and has been quoted by The Wall Street Journal, The Economist, Bloomberg, Reuters, and many other news sources.

Anne Perrault, Consultant: Anne Perrault is formerly with the Center for International Environmental Law (CIEL), where she directed the International Financial Institutions and Biodiversity Programs for thirteen years. While at CIEL, she worked to advance recognition and implementation of the rights of local communities to free, prior informed consent in various contexts, including development finance, access to genetic resources and traditional knowledge, trade, and establishment of protected areas. She has assisted community efforts to draft free, prior, informed consent protocols, and is the co-author of 'Promoting Authentic Local Community Decision-Making and Participation in Development: A Guide to Facilitate Development of Community Consent Protocols,' (to be completed September 2012). She has authored several other papers on the topic of free, prior, informed consent.

Raymond C. Offenheiser, President, Oxfam America: Raymond C. Offenheiser is President of Oxfam America, a non-profit international development and relief agency and the US affiliate of the Oxfam International confederation. Oxfam works to end global poverty through saving lives, strengthening communities, and campaigning for change. Since Ray joined Boston-based Oxfam America in 1995, the organization has grown more than sevenfold and become a leader in the US on a broad array of public policy issues from international development, to human rights and environment. Ray has worked his entire career in the nonprofit sector: before joining Oxfam America, he served for five years as the Ford Foundation Representative in Bangladesh and, prior to that, in the Andean and Southern Cone regions of South America. He has also directed programs for the Inter-American Foundation in both Brazil and Colombia and worked for Save the Children Federation in Mexico. He serves and has served on numerous boards and advisory bodies for a diverse array of both national and international institutions. Ray holds a master’s degree in development sociology from Cornell University and earned his bachelor’s degree from the University of Notre Dame.

Emily Greenspan, Policy and Advocacy Advisor, Oxfam America: Emily Greenspan is a Policy and Advocacy Advisor with Oxfam America’s extractive industries team based in Washington, DC. She is the co-author, with Marianne Voss, of Oxfam America's research backgrounder 'Community Consent Index: Company public positions regarding Free, Prior and Informed Consent (FPIC) for oil, gas, and mining projects' (2012); author of Oxfam America's report 'Watching the watchdogs: Evaluating independent expert panels that monitor oil and gas pipeline projects' (2011); and contributor to Oxfam America, World Resources Institute, and Bank Information Center’s 'People, Power, and Pipelines: Lessons from Peru in the governance of gas production revenues.' Prior to joining Oxfam America, Emily worked with WWF-Peru on issues pertaining to hydrocarbons, forestry, and indigenous peoples and with the Pan American Development Foundation on a civil society strengthening program. Emily has conducted research on consultation and community engagement around extractive industry projects, including for her master’s degree in public policy, which she received from Harvard University. She has a BA in anthropology and English literature from the University of Virginia.

Marianne Voss, Senior Advisor, Oxfam America: Marianne Voss is a Senior Advisor with Oxfam America’s private sector team based in Boston, MA. She is the co-author, with Emily Greenspan, of Oxfam America’s research backgrounder 'Community Consent Index: Company public positions regarding Free, Prior and Informed Consent for oil, gas, and mining projects' (2012). Marianne offers more than 10 years’ experience in human rights, development, law, and corporate responsibility across multi-national for-profit, non-profit and academic sectors. At Oxfam, Marianne works to strengthen Oxfam’s relationship with, and its capacity to engage, private sector actors relevant to Oxfam’s campaign, programmatic, and policy priorities. Prior to Oxfam, Marianne was the Executive Director of the Fair Factories Clearinghouse, the Head of Operations for Social & Environmental Affairs at the Adidas Group, and the Director of Human Rights Programs at Reebok International. Marianne has also taught business and human Rights courses at Bentley College. She is a graduate of Boston University School of Law and holds a master‘s degree concentrating in Public International Law and Human Rights from the Fletcher School at Tufts University.