Our approach

Sustainable Development Strategy

What we organise our sustainability work around, and how the priorities within it are set.

The premise The five pillars How priorities are set Review

How the strategy is written

The strategy states what is required rather than what is hoped for. It is expressed as standing requirements attaching to decisions, so that it governs the design of an activity rather than being applied to it after the fact.

Key facts

Five pillars: conduct, safety, people, environment and climate, and communities.

Priority is set by exposure, informed by the risk register and by what stakeholders raise.

Sustainability risk sits inside the enterprise risk framework, not beside it.

No claim is made to contribute to a numbered Sustainable Development Goal.

The premise

Mining is a long-duration business conducted on other people's ground. An asset takes years to evaluate, longer to build and decades to work, and the ground it occupies belongs, in every sense that matters to the people living on it, to somebody else. That is the premise the strategy is built on: an activity that cannot be conducted safely, lawfully and with the consent of those affected by it is not an activity we are willing to conduct.

The five pillars

Conduct

Lawful, transparent dealing with governments, counterparties and markets, and respect for internationally recognised human rights across our activities and our business relationships.

Safety

No activity proceeds where a hazard has not been assessed and controlled. Critical risks carry mandatory controls that cannot be waived at site level.

People

Employment decisions made on the requirements of the role, equal pay for work of equal value, and a working environment free from discrimination and harassment.

Environment and climate

Effects identified and assessed before an activity is authorised, managed for as long as it lasts and after it ends, with emissions accounted under the Greenhouse Gas Protocol.

Communities

Engagement that begins before an activity does, continues through closure, and is recorded so that what was said can be checked against what was done.

How priorities are set

Priority is a function of exposure rather than of profile. Three inputs determine it: the nature and setting of the activity concerned, the risk register maintained under the Enterprise Risk Management Policy, and what stakeholders raise through engagement and through the grievance mechanisms. An issue that is material on one asset may be immaterial on another, and the framework is written so that the requirement follows the exposure rather than the label.

Sustainability risks are assessed and recorded on the same basis as financial, legal and operational risks, and are treated within the same enterprise risk framework rather than in a separate register. Risk assessment is integrated into project planning, procurement, permitting, project appraisal and operational decision-making.

The relationship to the UN Sustainable Development Goals

Our Group policies are framed with regard to the UN Sustainable Development Goals, which provide a common vocabulary for the subjects the strategy addresses. The Goals are addressed to states. We do not claim a contribution to a numbered Goal, and do not report against one, because a claim of that kind cannot be verified from our own records.

Review

The strategy is reviewed on the cycle stated in the policy suite it sits with, and again on the occurrence of a significant incident or a change in regulation. Stakeholder feedback is taken into account in the review. Where a review results in a change, the change and the reason for it are recorded.