Operationalizing ESG - From C-Suite to Field Management

2021

Vera Chefranova

Environmental, social, and governance (ESG) reporting is here to stay, with nine out of ten S&P 500 companies having issued reports during the 2019 reporting season. This is up from 75 percent in 2014, according to the Governance & Accountability (G&A) Institute. There is now an undeniably intensive emphasis on ESG and corporate sustainability by fiduciaries, asset owners, and asset managers, and even the US Securities and Exchange Commission is commenting on the topic. The mining industry in particular faces pressure from the government and societies to report on ESG in response to environmental and climate footprint. In recent years, the necessity to meet the mandate of a larger group of stakeholders to redefine performance measures to include ESG credentials has become a clear expectation to sustain a mining industry brand. Industry leaders are moving towards enhanced ESG reporting and continuous disclosures. As of February 2020, more than 1,000 companies boasting $12 trillion in total market cap had endorsed the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures’ (TCFD) recommendations for sustainability disclosure. These companies include more than 473 financial firms representing $138.8 trillion of managed capital. Meanwhile, the Sustainability Accounting Standards Board (SASB) has seen a 180 percent increase in reporting using its framework over the last two years. And, according to BlackRock, ESG data will evolve into even more of a common language among issuers and investors over the next few years. Inspired by the global rise of reporting beyond financial results, we would like to discuss key questions for mining companies’ boards and executives to ask themselves and their management teams, mining industry reporting areas of focus peer performance, an overview of frameworks, and newly introduced and upcoming laws and regulations in the major mining geographies.

Keywords: ESG, corporate sustainability, reporting, disclosures

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