Glencore makes further emissions, tailings commitments

15th April 2021

By: Marleny Arnoldi

Deputy Editor Online

     

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Global diversified miner Glencore’s 2020 Sustainability Report, published on April 14, now incorporates information from both its standalone human rights report and the environmental, social and governance data books published in previous years.

The company’s sustainability report includes a modern slavery statement, a payments to government report, a climate report, a review of subsidiaries’ positions on climate change and information on tailings storage facilities (TSFs).

The report aligns with the Global Reporting Index’s reporting requirements, and maps to the International Council on Mining & Metals Mining Principles, the United Nations Global Compact’s principles, and the reporting requirements of the Sustainability Accounting Standards Board’s Metals and Mining Sustainability Accounting Standard.

Some highlights of the report include that Glencore reported eight fatalities at its operations during 2020, compared with 17 in 2019.

The company made good progress in the work programmes for those TSFs identified with potential stability issues during extreme weather or seismic events.

Glencore also exceeded its target to reduce Scope 1 and Scope 2 greenhouse-gas emission intensity by 5% in 2020, compared with the 2016 baseline, with a 13.2% reduction achieved. The company aims to achieve a net zero ambition in due course.

Moreover, the company, during 2020, established a water working group, comprised of internal subject matter experts, from all the company’s operating regions and commodity departments, to strengthen its approach to water management, governance, and development of both internal and external water targets.

Looking at land stewardship, Glencore disturbed 2 046 ha in 2020 and rehabilitated nearly 2 000 ha, compared with 6 842 ha disturbed and 2 313 ha rehabilitated in 2019.

Of the total land disturbed, Glencore has rehabilitated about 26%, or 33 000 ha, with 95 000 ha requiring rehabilitation still.

In terms of human rights, Glencore in 2020 initiated a project to improve its classification of events with human rights impacts.

The resulting framework considers two elements - the company’s relationship to an event and the severity of the event. “We base our relationship to an event on the United Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights.

“Over the coming weeks, we will publish our 2020 Modern Slavery Statement that will align with the reporting requirements of the UK and Australian Modern Slavery Acts,” says Glencore sustainable development head Anna Krutikov.

Glencore contributed $5.8-billion to host governments in 2020, in the form of taxes and royalty payments. The company reports that around 2.6-million people living near its assets have benefitted from Glencore’s community investment activities.

The company also continues to deliver on its commitment to responsible source and supply through its supply chain due diligence processes.

Meanwhile, Glencore had 30 000 employees from 35 countries participate in an employee survey last year, scoring positively with employee engagement at 85% against a benchmark of 81%.

Going forward, Glencore will roll out new policies and their supporting standards to strengthen its governance for overseeing implementation of sustainability targets.

Examples of these include implementing a proactive risk-based approach to prevent health, safety, environment and communities health-related incidents, as well as compliance with the Global Industry Standard for Tailings Management for ‘Very High’ and ‘Extreme’ consequence by August 2023, and all others by August 2025.

Glencore envisions a 40% reduction in Scope 1, 2 and 3 emissions by the end of 2035, against a 2019 baseline and a net zero for Scope 1, 2 and 3 emissions by the end of 2050.

By 2023, all managed operations located in water stressed regions will have finalised an assessment of material water-related risk, and have local targets set and implemented.

 

Edited by Chanel de Bruyn
Creamer Media Senior Deputy Editor Online

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