The Copper Mark serves to demonstrate the copper industry’s responsible production practices and the industry’s contribution to the United Nations SDGs.
Copper Mark Requirements
The Copper Mark™ takes the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) as its inspiration and organizing framework. The SDGs are recognized by 193 countries and make up a universally adopted framework for sustainable development. Focusing on SDG 12: Responsible Consumption and Production in its first implementation phase, the Copper Mark establishes the framework for responsible production. In the future, the Copper Mark will also launch other program elements to support additional SDGs.
In order to be identified as a contributor to SDG 12 and receive the Copper Mark, copper producers will be assessed against a set of responsible production criteria defined by the Risk Readiness Assessment (RRA) created by the Responsible Minerals Initiative. The RRA is comprised of a set of 32 environmental, social and governance ‘issue areas’ associated with sourcing minerals and metals. For each issue area, the RRA specifies a management practice. These management practices are known as the ‘industry norm’ and are derived from the requirements of voluntary sustainability standards that are commonly used in the minerals and metals supply chains and are representative of good management practices. At the core of the RRA is the concept of simplicity, defined as the need to maintain a limited number of industry norms covering the core environmental, social and governance issue areas.
Copper Mark Criteria
The Copper Mark Criteria for responsible production are the requirements defined in the Responsible Minerals Initiative’s Risk Readiness Assessment. They include 32 risk areas across the full spectrum of environment, social and governance topics.
Copper Mark Equivalency Matrix
The Copper Mark acknowledges that Copper Producers may have undergone internal and/or third-party audits or assessments as part of their involvement in other sustainability standards or certification systems covering operating areas and practices similar to those covered by the Copper Mark Criteria. A core principle of the Copper Mark is to recognize as ‘equivalent’ other like-minded sustainability systems, good practice frameworks, certifications, and externally assured management systems where they match and meet the Copper Mark Criteria.
Development of the Criteria
To learn more about how these criteria were developed, visit the RMI website.