agenda
How We Work
Our focus extends far beyond profit to nurture our innate passion to serve the country, community and the Company with a strong belief in the dignity and value of our people. At SECMC we we have developed our own brand of corporate sustainability. Our approach has been proactive and driven by the desire to create a symbiotic relationship between our business practices, the stakeholders we directly impact, our country and the planet we live on.
Our commitment to sustainability in the form of both social and environmental impact is a value that permeates all levels of our business, inculcated by an enabling culture that has been conscientiously developed across the organization. By ensuring that our business model is geared towards creating inclusive value, SECMC creates opportunity for a far wider community than our direct suppliers and customers: we help fulfil the economic promise of the nation as a whole.
To work on our agenda of social development we have established the Thar Foundation which has been exclusively tasked to focus on developing projects that enhance socio-economic opportunities for a multitude of stakeholders across Tharparkar.
About Our
Social Stewardship
– Thar Foundation
Thar Foundation has been established is a section 42 company under the Companies Act with a mission to unlocking human potential and delivering change in high impact areas.
We believe in equality of all lives and together without partners aim to improve lives for thousands, if not millions, of individuals living in poor socio-economic conditions in Tharparkar. We view ourselves as catalysts of human development and retain individuals and issues at the heart of our philosophy of executing meaningful change.
Through a robust implementation strategy that we have developed in collaboration with both local and global partners, we are focused on delivering impact on areas of greatest need, through ways we can do the most good. By employing graduated and sustainable interventions under the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals framework we seek to make Islamkot – the seat of our development interventions – the first SDG-model tehsil in Pakistan. Thar Foundation’s programs focus on education, mother & child health, provision of clean drinking water, women empowerment, technical & vocational training & employment, disaster management, green cover and food security. For more information, simply click www.tharfoundation.org
Our Water Stewardship
Access to clean water is a fundamental human right and a critical resource for SECMC’s mining operations. We are committed to responsible water stewardship that not only supports our operational needs but also respects and sustains the shared water resources within the catchments where we operate. Our water stewardship efforts are critical in maintaining our license to operate and contributing positively to the well-being of local communities and the environment.
SECMC commits to implementing and transparently disclosing its progress on water stewardship programs aimed at achieving measurable improvements aligned with the Alliance for Water Stewardship (AWS) Standard.
We are committed to:
- Program Implementation and Reporting: Implement water stewardship programs and report regularly on progress, focusing on water governance, sustainable water balance, water quality, and WASH improvements.
- Catchment Sustainability: Align water management practices with existing catchment sustainability plans, ensuring operations support long-term water security and ecological health.
- Stakeholder Engagement: Engage openly and transparently with local communities, regulatory bodies, and industry partners.
- Resource Allocation: Allocate necessary human and financial resources, invest in advanced technologies and infrastructure, and prioritize capacity-building initiatives for sustainable water management.
- Regulatory Compliance: Comply with all regulatory requirements and integrate water stewardship into business planning, investment decisions, and operational practices. Assign clear responsibilities and accountabilities for water management at all levels.
- Community Collaboration: Collaborate with local communities and stakeholders to enhance water use efficiency, improve water quality, and support innovative water stewardship initiatives.
Read the position statement here.
Read water related internal governance here.
Our Focus on Health,
Safety & Environment
As a leading conglomerate we are aware of our commitment to include a broader stakeholder community so we can establish a truly sustainable framework of doing business. We, as a company are passionate about ensuring that our policies & procedures remain eco-friendly and over the years we have demonstrated our focus on the environment by adopting initiatives that continue to mitigate our environmental footprint year on year.
To align our focus on driving an eco-friendlier approach towards doing business we continue to focus our efforts on a four-pronged strategy to manage our investments in health, safety and environment – these include:
Adherence to local laws
and global standards
Conservation of
natural resources
Environmental
footprint management
Occupational health
& safety
Since the inception of this project, we have been 100% Environmental NOC Compliant and have been able to maintain successful operations while reducing our environmental impact through a focused eco-efficient approach. “All our operations are aligned with Queensland Mining Safety & Health Management Systems & ISO Standards and are fully compliant with various environmental regulations. Moving beyond regulations and compliances, we have adopted strict international best practices on environmental management, which is factually enforced, across all our operations by designated teams having health, safety, environment, and quality experts, such as those certified with ISO-45001, ISO-14001, ISO-9001, and pocketing Annual Environment Excellence Awards for three consecutive years by National Forum for Environment and Health, Environment Excellence Award (2022) and International Safety Award (2022). Sindh Engro Coal Mining Company has also won the prestigious British Safety Council’s International Safety Award (2020, 2021and 2022) and Gulf Sustainability Award (2021and 2022). Our environmental management function is subject to robust auditing regime including internal audits and audits by Statutory Bodies and Independent Third-Party environmental experts. To uphold sustainability across the spectrum, SECMC we are implementing different projects including Khushaal Thar, Thar Million Tree, and Biosaline Agriculture and Fish Farming projects to further strengthen the pillars of sustainability.
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3.58 Million
Total Safe Working Hours
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0
TOTAL RECORDABLE INJURY RATE (TRIR)
Our Commitment
As a leading conglomerate we are aware of our commitment to include a broader stakeholder community so we can establish a truly sustainable framework of doing business. We, as a company are passionate about ensuring that our policies & procedures remain eco-friendly and over the years we have demonstrated our focus on the environment by adopting initiatives that continue to mitigate our environmental footprint year on year.
Mandatory Adoption of National Regulations:
- Environmental Protection Act/Sindh Environmental Act
- IEE-EIA Regulations 2000
- Sindh Coal Mine Rules 2016
Voluntary Adoption of International Regulations
- International Finance Corporation (IFC) – Guidelines for Monitoring Parameters
- Convention on Biological Diversity – Sustainable Solutions for Biological Diversity
- Montreal Protocol – Ban on Ozone Depleting Substances
Thar Million Tree Program
Gorano – an Oasis in the Desert
In 2017, SECMC initiated a way to combat desertification and deforestation faced in the region of Tharparkar in alignment with sustainable development goals SDG 13 and SDG 15 by developing Sindh’s largest private sector nursery having a capacity of 0.5 Million Saplings by the first quarter of 2018. The ‘Thar Million Tree Nursery’ used the Miyawaki technique of plantation on 100 acres at Thar Block-2 Site, where a dense forest was grown to increase greening efforts and promote biodiversity. The tree species include; Neem, Bairi, Sarhain, Moringa, Babur and Kandi. On 5th June, 2021 in celebration of the World Environment Day; SECMC completed its Thar Million Tree Plantation Program in the Thar.
As part of our reclamation efforts and strategy to steward bio-diversity under SDG # 2; Zero Hunger, an oasis has been created in the heart of the arid desert landscape of Tharparkar. An artificial pond using the saline water from the mine bed has been created at Gorano where successful experiments on bio-saline agriculture and aqua-culture have been demonstrated. The Gorano Saline Water fish project was started in March 2018, when around 100,000 small fish seedlings were released in the pond, which within 8 to 9 months grew into fully mature fish. The fish raised at Gorano are purely organic with no artificial chemical used at any point of breeding and have been declared fit for human consumption by medical laboratories. All the species of fish are Fresh water fish, we have consulted with experts of Sindh Fisheries Department and Private Aquaculture Experts of Pakistan before startup of this project. The International Union of Conservation of Nature (IUCN) along with other experts have termed Gorano a source of rich bio-diversity in the area with increasing potential to become a natural habitat and sanctuary for migratory birds not known to the area earlier.