The Copper Mark

A credible sustainability system has a clear purpose to drive positive social, environmental, and economic impacts and to eliminate or remediate negative impacts. It defines and clearly communicates its scope, its specific sustainability objectives, and its strategies for achieving these objectives (its theory of change). The system focuses on the significant sustainability impacts in its scope. It seeks to address the root causes of sustainability issues and deliver wider or systemic impacts. It reflects current scientific evidence and international norms when relevant. It is adapted to local or sector-specific conditions where this helps improve impact.

A detailed 5-year roadmap is in place to support its implementation.

A credible sustainability system identifies governments, businesses, and civil society organisations, including other sustainability systems, that are working towards shared sustainability objectives. It actively seeks alignment and respectfully pursues collaboration with others. It establishes partnerships and shares learnings to improve its efficiency and its direct or systemic impacts.

Existing systems that are equivalent to the Copper Mark are recognized in the assurance framework. The Copper Mark is recognized, or applying for recognition by, other systems such as the ICMM or the LME.

It lead the development of a Joint Due Diligence Standard for Copper, Lead, Nickel and Zinc to create efficiencies and reduce the burden on supply chain actors.

A credible sustainability system strives to create value that fairly rewards the effort and resources that it takes for users to participate in the system. It has a viable business model, and it operates efficiently, minimising costs for users and reaching more users by reducing other barriers to access. It supports users to implement its tools, and it empowers users by demonstrating a clear business case for participating in its system.

An annual fee applies for each participating site and depends on the size and type of the site’s production. A specific small site fee is available to reduce barriers to access for the smallest producers of copper.

The Copper Mark also leverages co-funding from many of our collaborators to create efficiencies and reduce costs.

To support its participants, the Copper Mark develops publicly available training content  in three languages (English, Spanish, Chinese).

Publicly available resources on its website are complemented by webinars, workshops and bilateral engagement with interested copper producers and partner organizations.

A credible sustainability system has tools that are relevant to achieving its sustainability objectives, and these tools allow progress towards objectives to be measured over time. It collects and analyses the data it needs to measure, understand, and demonstrate the progress its users are making towards these objectives.

A credible sustainability system is inclusive and non-discriminatory. It empowers stakeholders to participate in decisions and hold the system to account. It involves a balanced and diverse group of stakeholders in decisions that will affect them. It strives to understand the context and perspectives of stakeholders who have been under-engaged or under-represented, and it creates opportunities to ensure their participation in decision-making. It provides clear and transparent feedback on stakeholder input and concerns. It has fair, impartial and accessible mechanisms for resolving complaints and conflicts.

For more information on engagement, please see our Stakeholder Engagement page.

A credible sustainability system makes important information publicly available and easily accessible, while protecting confidential and private information. It enables stakeholders to understand and evaluate the system’s processes, decision-making, results, and impacts. Stakeholders have the information they need to actively participate in decisions or raise concerns.

A credible sustainability system identifies and avoids or mitigates conflicts of interest throughout its governance and operations, particularly when it comes to assessing its users’ performance. Transparency and stakeholder engagement help ensure the system’s integrity can be trusted.

See above for our approach to stakeholder engagement.

A credible sustainability system designs its tools so that these can be consistently implemented and assessed. It ensures assessments of users’ sustainability performance are competent and accurate, and that these assessments support any claims it allows users to make.

Conformance is verified by senior assessors with a strong track record of evaluating management systems.  The Copper Mark reviews their qualifications and monitors the quality of each assessment to ensure consistency.

A credible sustainability system substantiates its claims. Any claims the system or its users make are clear, relevant, and can be checked. They enable customers and other stakeholders to make informed choices. The scope and design of the system is accurately reflected in any claims, ensuring these are not misleading. Claims about sustainability impacts are backed up with data and evidence that is publicly available.

A credible sustainability system regularly reviews its objectives, its strategies, and the performance of its tools and system. It evaluates the impacts and outcomes of its activities. It applies the lessons learned to improve. It responds to new evidence, stakeholder input, and external changes, adapting its strategies to improve its impacts and remain fit for purpose.

The Copper Mark Standard Setting Procedure defines the regular review and revision of existing standards.

Complemented by the M&E System, the Copper Mark engages in annual leadership meetings to ensure the tools continue to respond to stakeholder needs and changing environments.