Case Studies
Issues management saves a ton of money
I began my career in communications in the early 1980s as the Director, Public Affairs at Falconbridge Limited (now part of Glencore Canada), the world’s second largest nickel producer. The job kept me on my toes, especially regarding acid rain – a hot topic at the time. The nickel ore mined in Sudbury, Ontario, where both Falconbridge and Inco (now Vale), the world’s largest nickel producer, operated, contained large amounts of sulfur, which created sulfur dioxide (SO2) gas during smelting and then released into the atmosphere.
In mid-1983, concurrent with federal government efforts to curtail noxious industrial emissions, the Ontario Ministry of the Environment (MOE) announced public hearings on a proposal to cap SO2 emissions to 50 per cent of current levels. This would have been devastating for Falconbridge, which had already cut its emissions by 86 per cent. To meet the proposed cap, the company would need to increase its emission reduction to 93 per cent from the current 86 per cent (that is, to 50 per cent of its current level) at a cost of several hundred million dollars.
At the time, other companies had yet to introduce any meaningful reduction measures, with nearly all the SO2 they produced going up the smokestack. A 50 per cent cut would cost them less than a third of what Falconbridge would have to pay, yet their emissions reduction would still be much less than what Falconbridge had already achieved. In response, I was assigned to write a submission to the MOE requesting that the proposed restrictions place a less onerous cap on Falconbridge.
Meanwhile, I had learned that the Canadian Coalition on Acid Rain (CCAR), an influential environmental advocacy group, was preparing a critical analysis of Inco’s SO2 emissions. I was concerned that the report, which was released in April 1984, would bring enormous pressure on the MOE to implement its proposed emissions cap.
Bill James, then Falconbridge’s president, CEO, and board chair, enthusiastically endorsed my proposal for a communications campaign to publicise Falconbridge’s voluntary contributions to environmental protection. The goal was to strengthen the company’s already favourable reputation prior to the release of the CCAR report and thereby increase the likelihood that the MOE would eventually approve Falconbridge’s request.
The publicity campaign was simple and straightforward: Produce a high-quality pamphlet describing Falconbridge’s 86 per cent reduction in SO2 emissions and the positive impact this had on the local environment.
The pamphlet, with a cover photo of the earth taken from space and titled Keeping it Clean: Everybody’s Business, made no mention of the MOE’s proposed restrictions or the upcoming CCAR’s report. Presenting Falconbridge’s significant reduction in SO2 emissions as justification for special MOE treatment would appear to be self-serving and hence counterproductive. Instead, the pamphlet focussed entirely on illustrating how industrial polluters, such as Falconbridge, could significantly reduce the damage they inflict upon the environment, thus projecting the company as socially responsible and worthy of public trust and respect.
Keeping it Clean: Everybody’s Business was published in December, well before the MOE proclaimed the new restriction and the CCAR released its report, was mailed to every member of Canada’s provincial and federal parliaments and the United States Congress. News releases were sent to Canadian and US media (this was before the advent of social media). Interviews were arranged with media outlets in Toronto and Ottawa. And the pamphlet was given to every delegate and environmental advocate attending the annual general meeting of the Mining Association of Canada (MAC) held every May in Ottawa. The head of one of the advocacy groups in attendance distributed the pamphlet to each member as an example of what industry can and should do to protect the environment.
The CCAR released its report a month before the MAC general meeting, with no fallout landing on Falconbridge. The restrictions eventually mandated by the MOE imposed a 67 per cent SO2 emissions reduction on Inco, and a 35 per cent reduction on Falconbridge.