Governance

The Xstrata Board sets and reviews Sustainable Development Policy globally. Xstrata’s Board Health, Safety, Environment and Community (HSEC) Committee was established in 2005 to assist the Board in its HSEC responsibilities and to provide guidance on sustainable development issues. Further details about the Board HSEC Committee and its activities during 2008 are provided in the Corporate Governance section.

Sustainable Development Framework

Xstrata’s Sustainable Development Framework sets out the Group’s expectations and commitments relating to the sustainable management of our business, comprising:

• Business Principles: Provide an unambiguous statement of how we conduct our business - ethically, openly, responsibly, together and with others;
• Sustainable Development Policy: Sets out the principles we apply to our management of health, safety, our people, communities and the environment;
• Sustainable Development Standards: Set out the Group requirements and expectations for each of our commodity businesses on sustainability issues; and
• Independent Assurance Programme: The key mechanism through which the Xstrata Board and management gain assurance that the Group’s policies and standards are being met.

Xstrata’s business principles, policies and standards are available from our website www.xstrata.com/sustainability/

Xstrata’s Sustainable Development Framework is regularly reviewed and a revised version was approved by the Executive Committee and Board in December 2007. Our Sustainable Development Framework has been mapped to show alignment to international standards including the ICMM and UN Global Compact principles, Voluntary Principles on Security and Human Rights, ISO14001 and OHSAS18001.