6.0 What Am I Responsible For? 6.1 How Do I Determine What I Am Responsible For? 6.2 How Do I Prevent Harm? 6.2.1 Understanding and Assessing the Risk 6.2.2 Taking Reasonable Steps to Prevent the Harm 6.2.3 Recommended Practices 6.3 How Do I Encourage Better Performance and Promote Good? 6.3.1 Recommended Practices 6.4 What Is My Responsibility for Business Relationships? 6.4.1 Recommended Practices 6.5 What Should I Disclose? 6.5.1 Recommended Practices
Introduction
Most explorers can agree that the principles contained in e3 Plus: A Framework for Responsible Exploration apply to them, but many stumble over how to put these into practice, not because they are not well intentioned and do not want to take action, but because they often do not know or recognize where their responsibility to act begins and ends.
There is no clear map delineating the boundaries of responsibility; those boundaries very much depend on the facts and circumstances of each individual situation. The fact that the boundaries of responsibility are situation dependent is complicated by the subject matter of social responsibility: ethical conduct, human rights, environmental integrity, community well-being, etc. These subjects are nuanced and responsibility is based on a combination of legal, ethical and social expectations. In some jurisdictions, the legal standards related to these issues may not be in place, well-defined, or adequate to prevent harm to people or the environment. Enforcement may be weak and the rule of law fragile. Moreover, for any one subject or situation, explorers will face different expectations from different stakeholders and sometimes these expectations will compete or conflict with each other.
