Anglo American plc (“Anglo American”) is today presenting its twice-yearly sustainability performance update, including in relation to decarbonisation, net positive biodiversity and progress towards assuring all operations against recognised responsible mining standards.
Duncan Wanblad, Chief Executive of Anglo American, said: “There is growing awareness of the centrality of mining to enabling the energy transition and the contribution we can make to a more sustainable future. Recognising that many of the metals and minerals we produce are critical to the technologies required to decarbonise the world’s energy and transport systems, our commitment to being part of the solution to climate change begins in our own business by meeting our emissions reduction and carbon neutrality goals. All the while, we know we also have a role to play to support host countries and communities in terms of skills, jobs and new fields of economic opportunity that are emerging. This transition must include all of society – it must be “Just”.
“As a further commitment to our holistic set of sustainability ambitions, we put in place our Sustainability Financing Framework in recent months, meaningfully linking certain of our funding requirements to the stretching sustainability objectives we have set for our business. Within that framework we issued our first sustainability-linked bond, including performance targets to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and fresh water abstraction, and to support job creation in host communities – a first of its kind for the mining sector.”
Emissions reduction – progressing towards carbon neutral operations by 2040
Anglo American set a target in 2018 to reduce GHG emissions by 30% by 2030, on our pathway to achieving carbon neutrality across our operations by 2040. On-site energy requirements are the largest source of our operational emissions and we are making good progress towards their abatement. By 2023, all our South America operations will have 100% renewable electricity supply and, for southern Africa, we have partnered with EDF Renewables to develop 3-5 GW of clean generation capacity, which is expected to meet Anglo American’s operational power requirements and support the resilience of local electricity supply systems. We have also set an ambition to reduce our scope 3 emissions by 50% by 2040, including by forming a number of partnerships with major steel customers to work together to unlock clean steelmaking technologies.
Biodiversity – delivering net positive impact
Anglo American’s Sustainable Mining Plan commits us to achieving a net positive impact on biodiversity across our managed operations. We have completed detailed baseline assessments, defining significant biodiversity features to protect and further restore, including key habitats and species and important ecosystems. We are investing in innovative technologies and nature-based solutions to mitigate climate change impacts and water scarcity, and to nurture wildlife habitats, with biodiversity management plans for each site being integrated into our life of asset plans.
Responsible mining – assuring all our operations against recognised standards
Anglo American has been engaging to develop responsible mining standards since 2005. Our Sustainable Mining Plan commits us to assuring all our sites against recognised responsible mining standards by 2025 and we are on track to meet that goal. We are increasingly finding that our most important customers are those whose own values and aspirations align with those of Anglo American, attributing value not only to the physical characteristics of the products we sell, but also to the ethical approach and commitments of those who produce them.
Mr Wanblad added: “The world we are living in is changing in so many ways, not least in society’s expectations of businesses across many industries. We have set up Anglo American to be resilient, disciplined, opportunistic – and responsible. We have the people, the assets and the capabilities to deliver sustainable returns over the long term. It is incumbent on us to deliver the metals and minerals the world so urgently needs in the cleanest and most socially responsible way possible.”
Today’s Sustainability Performance presentation will be available on the Anglo American website www.angloamerican.com at 12.30pm UK time, with the presentation itself starting at 1.30pm UK time. A full recording will be available following the presentation at: www.angloamerican.com/investors/investor-presentations.