Anglo American plc is presenting its biannual sustainability performance update. Mark Cutifani, Chief Executive of Anglo American, said: “A sustainable business is one that has an enduring purpose in society and that considers in all its decision-making the many different forms of value that it can deliver for all stakeholders, including the natural environment.”
“Anglo American’s Purpose of re-imagining mining to improve people’s lives guides our delivery of sustainable value to our shareholders, our employees, and our broader business and societal stakeholders. Improving people’s lives is what we believe sustainable businesses must deliver – both through the direct value we create in terms of employment and economic and social contribution, but also to the world at large through the metals and minerals we provide, many of which are fundamental to decarbonisation and meeting global consumer demand for every day through to specialty and luxury products.”
“With our portfolio deliberately tilted towards those future-enabling products, we know it is our duty to supply metals and minerals as responsibly as current technologies allow while continuing to stretch ourselves and our business partners to further improve our performance.”
“In early 2018 we set out a series of stretching goals spanning the full breadth of E, S and G, in the shape of our Sustainable Mining Plan, underpinned by six critical foundations. We are making good progress towards delivery on those goals but we also recognise that the world moves on, as do society’s expectations of us. We have added to the original goals, including our commitment to reach net-zero across our operational footprint by 2040, with roughly a third of our operations to get there a decade earlier, in 2030.”
“Likewise, we have also raised the bar again in terms of our approach to social performance, with the implementation in 2020 of our Social Way 3.0, a rigorous management system to drive consistently better outcomes for host communities. Just as financial performance presents an opportunity for differentiation, we see sustainability no differently – it is integral to how we all work and plan and is central to our overall business performance. Our Sustainable Mining Plan commitments must be relevant and stretching, so we will continue to evolve them across the business.”
“Much of what we are driving for, particularly in terms of our energy and water ambitions, will be achieved through the technologies we are deploying as part of our FutureSmart Mining
programme. These technologies are transforming the very nature of mining – how we source, mine, process, move and market our products – and how our stakeholders experience our business. This is about transforming our physical and social footprints.?”
“Tackling climate change could not be more urgent. For the emissions that we control in our business, we have come a long way, delivering our 2020 target to reduce GHG emissions by 22% a year early. Our securing of 100% renewable electricity supply across our operations in Brazil, Chile and Peru mark another major step, cutting CO2 emissions from those operations by approximately 70%. And our development of a hydrogen-powered mine haul truck has the potential to remove another major emission source from our business.”
“At the same time, we continue working on reducing our Scope 3 emissions. Our planned demerger of our thermal coal assets in South Africa is part of the journey. However, we have a long way to go, including how we more effectively impact the value chains that we are a part of, and how best to work along value chains to mitigate the risks and maximise the benefits associated with the transition to a low carbon future. Data is always central to our analysis and we are doing the work now so that we can set out our clear ambition in October at our next update.”
Read more Mining Safety News
Image by Anglo American
