John Willson, President and CEO, Placer Dome Inc. (headquartered in Canada):

"....National and regional governments may not have the capacity to regulate the environmental impact of mining, and to channel revenues received from mining into sustainable social and economic progress. Moreover, all the issues relating to sustainability are interrelated and must be dealt with holistically. Social issues, such as human rights or indigenous peoples' entitlements, cannot be considered apart from environmental issues, such as pollution impacts and biodiversity preservation, which are related to economic issues such as wealth distribution and economic empowerment. No one party, community, government, company, or any other organization, has the capacity to design and implement a comprehensive sustainability strategy around a mine.

For this reason, we believe the new model of development will require that corporations enter into partnerships with stakeholders to achieve sustainability objectives. Host governments and communities are obvious partners. Others will be foreign aid agencies and the World Bank, playing a supporting rather than lead role in development. Still others may be nongovernmental organizations focused on environmental performance or social progress, churches with their concerns for human well-being, and research institutes with expertise in development....

We think we are on the right track with our sustainability policy toward making a meaningful contribution to social and economic progress in the developing world; but we are far from having all the answers. We think that the answers are to be found in dialogue and partnerships with our stakeholders, around the theme of sustainability."

[from John Willson, President and CEO, Placer Dome Inc,  Corporate Responsibility in the Global Marketplace, presentation at the launch of the Canadian Development Report 1998, Vancouver, 27 May 1998]