Volkmar Guido Hable to lead WEF social initiative

  DAVOS, SWITZERLAND - 01/20/2017 (PRESS RELEASE JET)

· Volkmar Guido Hable to lead  group of investors from the mining and oil sector to raise  $10 million by September 2017 for studying and proposing solutions for social issues in mining and energy projects

· Fund will into solutions for epidemic social problems in areas affected by mining and energy projects.

· Read more about the new initiative Social Mining and Energy Alliance 2020 at www.SME2020.org; for more information on the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting, see http://wef.ch

· Follow the World Economic Forum on all digital platforms: wef.ch/follow

19 January 2017, Davos-Klosters, Switzerland – Volkmar Guido Hable in cooperation with several lead investors from the mining and oil middle market is leading a new initiative, the Social Mining and Energy Alliance 2020,  which will analyze and propose real life concrete solutions to the current  most burning social issues affecting energy and mining projects around the world.

For that purpose a fund will be set up, which will work in partnership with the Global Environment Facility, UN Environment Programme,  the UNHCR, the Medicins Sans Frontiere (MSF), the Sustainable Trade Initiative (IDH) and major oil and mining companies and environmental NGOs as well as local country specific NGOs, and aims to develop specific .

The fund will be launched with a commitment of up to $10 million, based on a capitalization goal of $40 million by 2020, to be drawn from other bilateral and multilateral donors as well as private sector partners. The capital will be used to provide concrete proposals to governments and resource companies alike with the goal to facilitate the development of future energy and mining projects by creating employment and income solutions  and thus an environment of social acceptance by the local populations.

Energy and mining is one of the biggest drivers of economic growth in many world regions in development, unfortunately often with little of those investments transpiring into real increases of living standards for the local populations. Between 2000 and 2015, a study of existing mining and oil projects in certain African countries but also the Canadian north showed that the implementation of energy and mining investments had no measurable increase in income or living standard for the local populations.

Volkmar Guido Hable added:  “This situation has to change. How can we in the resource industry demand from the local population to check off and thumb up our projects, when there is nothing in it for them.”

The fund is expected to provide an incentive for companies and  governments by driving investments in countries and jurisdictions with new social standards benefitting the local populations. It is an example of a global public-private partnership to drive action towards social solutions, hosted at the World Economic Forum.

Volkmar Guido Hable, announced the launch of the fund today at the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting in Davos-Klosters. “The future of the resource industry depends on our common ability to both promote and restore confidence in us that mining and energy projects in fact raise the living standards of these regions affected by them.” he said. “Through this fund, we will work with middle market companies and  governments, the private sector and civil society to make this happen in innovative ways.”

The fund will be formally set up and incorporated  as an independent legal entity later this year.

The 47th World Economic Forum Annual Meeting is taking place from the  17^th to the 20^th of January in Davos-Klosters, Switzerland, under the theme Responsive and Responsible Leadership. More than 3,000 participants from nearly 100 countries will participate in over 400 sessions.