Rio Tinto, Newmont, Gold Fields, Anglo American and IGO were all among the mining operators recognised in S&P Global’s Sustainability Yearbook for 2022.
The Yearbook is based on S&P Global’s Corporate Sustainability Assessment (CSA), a 23-year-old research process to capture ESG (environment, social and governance) metrics and data on complex sustainability topics.
The results captured in 2021 for the 2022 edition assessed 61 industries, 7554 companies, and more than 13 million data points to understand which companies and industries are leading the world in sustainable business practices.
Not all these companies were recognised in the Yearbook and even fewer received bronze, silver or gold class awards for excellence, ensuring those who were recognised stand out in their field.
In the 2022 Yearbook, 19 companies were recognised from the metals and mining industry, with Newmont Corporation taking out the industry’s highest ESG score of 83 and a Gold Class award.
Gold Fields scored 81 and a Silver Class award, while Anglo American and Rio Tinto both scored Bronze Class awards with scores of 78 and 76, respectively.
Honourable mentions for those operating in Australia went to AngloGold Ashanti and IGO.
As for the wider mining industry, the Yearbook highlighted which industries were most prepared for the world’s transition to sustainable practices and which were most in danger of damaging their credit score.
The Yearbook suggested that many mining companies do understand the state of biodiversity around their sites and put considerable measures in place to accommodate this.
“There are signs that some sectors are trying to get to grips with the issue (of biodiversity): most companies with biodiversity commitments in the construction materials and paper and forests products industries, as well as a third of companies in the metals and mining sector, assess their sites not just on a wider spatial level, but also at the level of species and/or habitats,” the Yearbook stated.
Contrastingly, the metals and mining sector was warned by the Yearbook that large companies had a 56 per cent chance of a downgraded credit score by 2050, based on current trajectories.
To turn this around, the Yearbook outlined five ESG topics which all industries could focus on to improve their credentials.
These included a public recognition of climate change as a ‘material issue’; setting net-zero targets; committing to protect biodiversity; adapting to manage COVID-19 and the labour market; and improving corporate diversity and equity.
Read S&P Global’s Sustainability Yearbook for 2022, here.
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