Ethics & governance

AngloGold Ashanti subscribes to ICMM principles

AngloGold Ashanti is a founding member of the International Council on Mining and Metals (ICMM) and subscribes to the ICMM principles of sustainability.

ICMM sustainable development framework - ICMM principles

As members of the ICMM, or as companies that have otherwise agreed to adopt the same performance obligations as ICMM members, we seek continual improvement in our performance and contribution to sustainable development so as to enhance shareholder value. In striving to achieve this, we will:

• implement and maintain ethical business practices and sound systems of corporate governance.
• integrate sustainable development considerations within the corporate decision-making process.
• uphold fundamental human rights and respect cultures, customs and values in dealings with employees and others who are affected by our activities.
• implement risk-management strategies based on valid data and sound science.
• seek continued improvement of our health and safety performance.
• seek continued improvement of our environmental performance.
• contribute to the conservation of biodiversity and integrated approaches to land use planning.
• facilitate and encourage responsible product design, use, re-use, recycling and disposal of our products.
• contribute to the social, economic and institutional development of the communities in which we operate.
• implement effective and transparent engagement, communication and independently verified reporting arrangements with our stakeholders.

ICMM corporate membership includes a commitment to measure corporate performance against these principles. In this report, AngloGold Ashanti also reports its performance against these principles.

JSE Securities Exchange SRI Index

In March 2004, the JSE Securities Exchange South Africa (JSE) announced a list of those companies that had successfully achieved admittance to its Socially Responsible Investment (SRI) Index. The SRI Index was launched as a means to identify those companies listed on the JSE that integrate the principles of sustainability into their business activities, and to facilitate investment in such companies. According to the JSE, the SRI Index has been structured to reflect the complex nature of social responsibility in South Africa with detailed criteria for each of the triple bottom lines. The SRI Index has been constituted from companies that form part of the FTSE/JSE All Share Index and which meet the criteria determined by the SRI Index Advisory Committee. These will be reviewed from time to time to reflect the continuous development of both the concepts and practices of SRI and sustainability.

The three pillars

The Index is structured along the three pillars of the triple bottom line, namely environment, society and economy. A company must address each of these pillars if it is truly to be said to have integrated sustainability into its business practices. In addition, the principles of fairness, accountability, responsibility and transparency are common to all three pillars of the triple bottom line. These principles are also the fundamental concepts that lie at the root of corporate governance. Successful governance, as advocated by the King Report on Corporate Governance (2002), and also for purposes of the Index, requires companies to adopt a more inclusive approach to business, with greater emphasis on the non-financial aspects of performance.

For more information see www.jse.co.za

About the United Nations Global Compact

In an address to The World Economic Forum on 31 January 1999, United Nations' Secretary-General Kofi Annan challenged business leaders to join an international initiative - the Global Compact - that would bring companies together with UN agencies, labour and civil society to support principles in the areas of human rights, labour, the environment and anti-corruption. The Global Compact's operational phase was launched at UN headquarters in New York on 26 July 2000 and the first Global Compact Leaders' Summit was held there on 24 June 2004.

Through the power of collective action, the Global Compact seeks to advance responsible corporate citizenship so that business can be part of the solution to the challenges of globalisation. In this way, the private sector - in partnership with other social sectors - can help realise the Secretary-General's vision: a more sustainable and inclusive global economy.

The Global Compact is a voluntary corporate citizenship initiative with two objectives:

• to mainstream the principles in business activities around the world; and
• to catalyse actions in support of UN goals.

The Global Compact is not a regulatory instrument - it does not police, enforce or measure the behaviour or actions of companies. Rather, it relies on public accountability, transparency and the enlightened self-interest of companies, labour and civil society to initiate and share substantive action in pursuing the principles upon which the Global Compact is based.

Information drawn from the United Nations Global Compact website - www.unglobalcompact.org