Goldcorp is a Canadian company. Among its major investors are British-based AXA Investment Managers UK Ltd (US$4.3 million), Blackrock Commodities Income Trust plc, and City Natural Resources High Yield Trust PLC. Goldcorp holds its AGM in Vancouver, Canada, on 18 May.
This week, two Goldcorp shareholders will challenge other investors to back their resolution, calling for a halt to the Canadian company’s Marlin mine operations in Guatemala. Fifteen US congressional representatives have also expressed “serious concerns” about the mine, urging Goldcorp to urgently address “the ongoing human rights, health, and environmental concerns of the indigenous communities”.
See http://www.minesandcommunities.org/article.php?a=10901.
A message to GoldCorp shareholders: the Guatemalan people need your votes
Goldcorp is hosting its annual general meeting in Vancouver this week. Shareholders will be asked to vote on whether the Canadian mining company, listed on both the New York and Toronto stock exchanges, should temporarily suspend operation of the Marlin mine, a particularly notorious open-pit gold mine in Guatemala. Two shareholders put forward the proposal on the basis of mounting evidence to suggest that the Marlin mine is degrading the water and land of the Maya Mam indigenous communities, and is operating on their ancestral lands without their consent.
See http://communities.canada.com/vancouversun/blogs/communityofinterest/archive/2011/05/17/a-message-to-goldcorp-shareholders-the-guatemalan-people-need-your-votes.aspx.
International Human Rights Program at University of Toronto critiques GoldCorp’s Human Rights Policy
Actions Speak Louder than Words: A Critical Analysis of GoldCorp’s Human Rights and Corporate Social Responsibility Policies is an authoritative report released by the International Human Rights Program (“IHRP”) 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. 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.
See http://www.utorontoihrp.com/index.php/advocacy/media/81-ihrp-report-critiques-goldcorps-human-rights-policy-in-advance-of-may-18th-shareholders-meeting.
36 European Civil Society Organisations and Networks Ask Swedish and Norwegian Pension Funds to Support Shareholder Resolution
http://goldcorpoutofguatemala.com/2011/05/13/36-european-civil-society-organisations-and-networks-ask-swedish-and-norwegian-pension-funds-to-support-shareholder-resolution/
Canadian Government Abdicates Responsibility to Ensure Respect for Human Rights
http://www.miningwatch.ca/en/canadian-government-abdicates-responsibility-ensure-respect-human-rights