Environment

Our environmental requirements apply across the life of an activity, from the assessment made before it is authorised through to the rehabilitation of the ground after it stops. They cover biodiversity and habitat, water abstraction, use and discharge, waste and emissions to air, water and soil, hazardous materials, closure and rehabilitation, the environmental standards we apply to suppliers, and the recording of environmental risk in our risk register. Greenhouse gas emissions are dealt with under Climate change.

No activity begins until the environmental instrument that corresponds to it has been approved by the competent authority. That is the rule we operate to in Peru, where our mineral assets are.

For exploration, the applicable instrument, whether a Ficha Tecnica Ambiental, a Declaracion de Impacto Ambiental or an Estudio de Impacto Ambiental Semidetallado, is determined by the scale and setting of the programme, evaluated by the Ministry of Energy and Mines, and carries commitments that bind the activity once approved.

Environmental oversight and enforcement in the sector are exercised by the Organismo de Evaluacion y Fiscalizacion Ambiental. Water is administered by the Autoridad Nacional del Agua and is dealt with under Water stewardship, and citizen participation in environmental assessment is dealt with under Communities.

In Switzerland, we structure our environmental reporting against the applicable non-financial and climate disclosure requirements.

Where an activity generates them, water withdrawal and consumption volumes, waste volumes and diversion rates, emissions to air, land disturbed and rehabilitated, and environmental incident counts are published. We monitor under the commitments carried by the applicable environmental instrument, maintain records, and record and review environmental incidents with a root cause analysis and a corrective action, so that reporting rests on a consistent basis.