Technical Regulations and Applicable Legislation

INTERNATIONAL BEST PRACTICES

All the work carried out by GMI Consulting observes the best international practices in terms of respect and attention to human rights and integration of information, so our methodology incorporates and complies with the following international principles and protocols:

Equator Principles and Environmental and Social Sustainability Standards. – Guidelines issued by the International Finance Corporation as a member of the World Bank to ensure compliance with the environmental and social responsibility of development projects, in favor of sustainable development. With this, the projects in charge of GMI Consulting will comply with the requirements established by the funders in terms of compliance with international regulations on management and social impact.

Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights. Implementation of the United Nations framework for protection, respect, and remedy.  Fieldwork will be carried out with full respect for human rights in accordance with principles of universality, interdependence, indivisibility and progressivity; exercising due diligence to prevent violations, favoring at all times the broadest protection:

• Ensuring participation is voluntary
• Obtaining the express consent of individuals to include their participations
• Guaranteeing confidentiality and data protection mechanisms
• Refraining from coercive, discriminatory and intrusive practices
• Providing comprehensive and transparent information
• Conducting oneself with probity and truthfulness

For the Evaluation of Social Impacts, we will attend to the best practices indicated by the International Association for Impact Evaluation (IAIA); which defines social impacts as those changes that may occur in the population that is within the area of influence of a project in the following areas:

• People’s way of life; that is, how they live, work, play and interact with each other in everyday life;
• Their culture; that is, their beliefs, customs, values and language or dialect;
• Your community; its cohesion, stability, character, services and facilities;
• Their political systems; the extent to which people can participate in decisions that affect their lives, the level of democratization taking place and the resources provided for that purpose;
• Your environment; the quality of the air and water used by the population, the availability and quality of the food they eat, the level of hazard or risk, dust and noise to which they are exposed, the adequacy of sanitation, their physical safety and their access to and control over resources;
• Your health and well-being; Health is a state of total well-being from the physical, mental, social and spiritual point of view, and not only the absence of disease;
• Your personal and property rights; especially if people are economically affected or suffer from personal disadvantages that may include violation of their civil liberties;
• Their fears and aspirations; their perceptions of their own safety, their fears about the future of their community, and their aspirations for both their own future and that of their children.

In addition to the above, the principles and policies indicated in the following instruments will be followed:

Universal Declaration of Human Rights

International Finance Corporation (World Bank):

• Equator Principles
• Environmental and Social Sustainability Performance Standards
• General environmental, health and safety guidelines
• Relations with the Community and Other Social Actors: Best Practices Manual for Companies Doing Business in Emerging Markets, IFC

Inter-American Development Bank:

• Protocol of Action on Shared Social Benefits in the Energy Sector

Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD):

• OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises (Recommendations for Responsible Business Conduct in the Global Context)

Office of the United Nations High Commissioner:

• Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights. Operationalizing the United Nations framework for protecting, respecting and remedying

In the case of projects that involve a possible impact on indigenous and /or Afro-Mexican peoples and communities, all the work to be carried out has as a frame of reference the following documents:

• Political Constitution of the United Mexican States
• ILO Convention 169 concerning Indigenous and Tribal Peoples in Independent Countries
• United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples
• American Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples
• Regional Agreement on Access to Information, Public Participation and Access to Justice in Environmental Matters in Latin America and the Caribbean (Escazú Agreement)
• Judgments of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights
• Judgments of the Supreme Court of Justice of the Nation

For the projects in the mining sector in which we participate, we promote among our clients the adherence to the Standard for responsible mining IRMA (Initiative for Responsible Mining Assurance).

In the projects of the palm sector in which we have participated, we take as a reference the RSPO (Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil) Guidelines.

NATIONAL REGULATIONS

In the case of projects in Mexico City, the Social Impact Assessment studies and the Neighborhood Consultation Processes for real estate developments are carried out in strict adherence to the Notice by which the Neighborhood Consultation Process for Large Constructions is announced and its annex Guide for Social Impact Assessment and the Neighborhood Consultation for Large Constructions in Mexico City published in the Official Gazette of Mexico City on December 27, 2019.

In the case of projects in the energy sector, compliance is given to the provisions established in:

• Hydrocarbons Law and its Regulations,
• Electricity Industry Law and its Regulations
• General Administrative Provisions on Social Impact Assessment in the Energy Sector
• Federal Law on Protection of Personal Data Held by Private Parties
• General Recommendation No. 37 of the National Human Rights Commission on the Respect and Observance of Human Rights in Business Activities

Throughout the fieldwork, compliance with the Law on Protection of Personal Data Held by Private Parties is complied with, particularly with regard to the collection of personal data, respecting the rights of Access, Rectification, Cancellation or Opposition (ARCO), establishing security measures for the backup of the data and its transfer through a Privacy Notice  for the collection of information, and guaranteeing the participation in good faith, free and without coercion of all participants.