{"id":5006,"date":"2025-12-02T13:39:58","date_gmt":"2025-12-02T13:39:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thetradingdictionary.com\/index.php\/2025\/12\/02\/why-sqm-says-social-dialogue-is-key-to-sustainable-lithium\/"},"modified":"2025-12-02T13:39:58","modified_gmt":"2025-12-02T13:39:58","slug":"why-sqm-says-social-dialogue-is-key-to-sustainable-lithium","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thetradingdictionary.com\/index.php\/2025\/12\/02\/why-sqm-says-social-dialogue-is-key-to-sustainable-lithium\/","title":{"rendered":"Why SQM Says Social Dialogue is Key to Sustainable Lithium"},"content":{"rendered":"<\/p>\n

As scrutiny continues to intensify across the battery metals supply chain, the conversation around sustainability has moved far beyond carbon footprints. <\/strong><\/p>\n

At this year\u2019s Benchmark Week, Stefan Debruyne, director of external affairs at Sociedad Quimica y Minera de Chile (SQM) (NYSE:SQM), made that point unmistakably clear: sustainability in lithium is as much about people, process and transparency as it is about emissions \u2014 and it must be learned, not imposed.<\/p>\n

SQM, one of the world\u2019s largest lithium producers, has long been at the center of debates about extraction in Chile\u2019s Salar de Atacama. But for Debruyne, the company\u2019s vision of leadership goes beyond scale.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

\u201cWe approach leadership in a holistic way,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s not only about having trust to produce and being able to deliver the quality the market needs, but also doing it in a responsible way \u2014 dialogue, working closely with stakeholders and civil society. We work very hard on all components.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

\n

Building social license <\/h3>\n

Much of Debruyne\u2019s role over the past five years has centered on improving engagement with Indigenous communities, many of which have deep historical grievances tied to land, water and the impact of large-scale resource extraction.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s really about being the best neighbor possible,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n

But getting there has required fundamental shifts in mindset and method. One of the clearest examples is what Debruyne called the principle of horizontality \u2014 a change born from early missteps.<\/p>\n

A decade ago, when communities questioned the mine\u2019s hydrological impacts, SQM responded the way many industrial operators would: it sent engineers to explain the technical data.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou would think that\u2019s a great thing to do,\u201d Debruyne said. \u201cBut we learned that\u2019s not the right way, because community members aren\u2019t hydrologists. There\u2019s a vertical difference.\u201d<\/p>\n

Instead, SQM now helps communities secure independent experts of their choosing, ensuring conversations happen \u201con a horizontal level.\u201d This shift has been crucial to rebuilding trust. <\/p>\n

Just as important, Debruyne said, is abandoning the western notion of time.<\/p>\n

\u201cCommunities have a different concept of time. It\u2019s about giving them the time they need \u2014 taking information back, returning, iterating. You may think you\u2019re doing things the right way, but there\u2019s always room for improvement.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

Why social investment reduces risk <\/h3>\n

For Oxfam policy advisor Andrew Bogrand, these types of changes are not just ethical \u2014 they\u2019re also practical.<\/p>\n

The expert, who also spoke on the panel, noted that since 2010, more than 800 protests or violent incidents have occurred around mine sites globally, including 300 since 2021 alone. <\/p>\n

Each one carries real costs: slowdowns, legal expenses, rising insurance premiums \u2014 and, as Bogrand pointed out, the hidden cost of executive time diverted to crisis management.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere is a win-win solution,\u201d he told the Benchmark Week audience. \u201cIt\u2019s engaging communities, making sure everyone\u2019s on the same page. Sometimes the solutions are very simple.\u201d<\/p>\n

As an example, he pointed to mining projects where warning messages were sent in English to communities that do not speak the language, or where key safety information was delivered over SMS when what residents needed was a physical noticeboard in their own dialect.<\/p>\n

Bogrand described companies that \u201cstep over a dollar to pick up a penny\u201d \u2014 refusing modest community requests, only to face shutdowns costing tens of millions of dollars. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

Transparency: A tool, not a threat <\/h3>\n

Debruyne described transparency as one of SQM\u2019s most effective tools, even if it initially felt counterintuitive.<\/p>\n

A few years ago, the company made all hydrological data from its government reporting publicly accessible online.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was bracing myself,\u201d he said, expecting to receive dozens of questions about brine levels. But counter to his fears, transparency defused tension rather than fueling it. \u201cI received complete silence,’ Debruyne noted. <\/p>\n

It also created a foundation for future collaboration, including joint environmental monitoring programs with communities that had refused to speak with SQM for years.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

Moving slow to move fast <\/h3>\n

The tension between rapid industry growth and slow, iterative sustainability processes often surfaces in investor discussions. For Bogrand, the answer is simple: \u201cYou have to move slow to move fast.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rushing early stage engagement almost always backfires, he argued, while early investment in community relationships pays dividends across the life of a mine.<\/p>\n

Debruyne echoed this idea, noting that patience, consistency and presence \u2014 not promises \u2014 win trust. In one case, SQM organized a visit for Atacama Indigenous women leaders to electric vehicle and battery plants in Germany and Poland, allowing them to see firsthand where lithium fits in a finished product.<\/p>\n

One participant, surprised that the metal formed only a thin coating on a cathode, admitted she had imagined an \u201cAvatar-like\u201d scenario where mines destroyed massive volumes of land for each battery.<\/p>\n

\u201cBecause they don\u2019t have visibility on the value chain, they make interpretations, which is human,\u201d Debruyne told listeners. \u201cDialogue is so important.\u201d<\/p>\n

Both Debruyne and Bogrand agree that the lithium supply chain cannot scale without social acceptance, credible transparency and deep engagement with affected communities. <\/p>\n

As Debruyne noted, \u201cUltimately, it\u2019s about people.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Securities Disclosure: I, Georgia Williams, hold no direct investment interest in any company mentioned in this article.<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/p>\n

This post appeared first on investingnews.com<\/div>\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

As scrutiny continues to intensify across the battery metals supply chain, the conversation around sustainability has moved far beyond carbon footprints. At this year\u2019s Benchmark Week, Stefan Debruyne, director of external affairs at Sociedad Quimica y Minera de Chile (SQM) (NYSE:SQM), made that point unmistakably clear: sustainability in lithium is as much about people, process…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":5007,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5006","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-investing"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thetradingdictionary.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5006","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thetradingdictionary.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thetradingdictionary.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thetradingdictionary.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thetradingdictionary.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5006"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/thetradingdictionary.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5006\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thetradingdictionary.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5007"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thetradingdictionary.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5006"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thetradingdictionary.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5006"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thetradingdictionary.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5006"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}