A Personal Reflection on Corporate Sustainability - ProEdgeWire

As the Producer of ProEdgeWire’s video interviews, I recently had the unique opportunity to sit in on an interview that Tracy Weslosky, Publisher of ProEdgeWire, conducted with Richard Spencer, CEO of U3O8 Corp. (TSX: UWE | OTCQX: UWEFF). It was fascinating to here Richard speak so passionately U3O8 Corp.’s sustainability initiatives in Colombia — working towards micro finance programs and with the local population on farming and tilapia ponds. Once the formal interview was finished, Richard continued to talk about other sustainability initiatives including a cable transportation system that was installed to minimize the need for roads. He also spoke about his childhood, growing up in Zambia where his father instilled in him respect for the land with a view that it was shared territory for both humans and animals. While I know that U3O8 Corp. has a global team that is advancing their sustainability initiatives, it was clear that Richard is a driving force behind this.

Coming out of the interview, I began to think about my own sustainability ethic, to me an innate quality that was enhanced by my parents along with what I learned in school. I recall begin taught as a kid to turn off the lights when they weren’t needed because it costs money to keep them on. I would also later learn about the environmental impacts of my choices; about Aldo Leopold’s Tragedy of the Commons; and a simple definition of living sustainably: using the resources of the earth in a way that doesn’t impact future generations’ use of the same resources. Or even simpler, leaving the world a better place for future generations.

Having previously worked as a sustainability analyst for over six years, I have had the opportunity to interview various public corporations, large and small, about their sustainability initiatives that span environmental, social and governance (ESG) aspects. While ESG seems to be an acceptable three-pronged approach to defining corporate sustainability, the way in which corporate sustainability is evaluated, as in what metrics are used, can differ from one research firm to the next.

That said I realized that I have never asked a company “what or who is the driving force behind your sustainability programs.” Nor have I ever asked them to explain where their sustainability ethic comes from. The ProEdgeWire: Sustainability & Education section provides a platform for such for questions to be asked and discussed alongside mainstream developments in the global natural resource sector, encompassing the whole supply chain to highlight what miners and developers are doing with upstream and downstream examples. This section will also have a strong educational focus to meet our goal of providing informative content that helps our readers to learn about and expand their understanding of sustainability.

Disclaimer: U3O8 Corp. is a ProEdgeWire: Sustainability & Education sponsor.