Gold miners commit to climate risk reporting

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This is in line with the recommendations of Taskforce for Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD).

The TCFD recommendations and reporting framework is now widely recognised as the preferred method for embedding climate change into the governance, strategy and risk management systems of organisations, and the means by which they disclose comprehensive and high-quality information on these factors to investors and stakeholders.

This unified approach on climate-related reporting further clarifies the commitments already embedded in the WGC’s Responsible Gold Mining Principles (RGMPs) which require companies to take action to combat climate change and report in line with accepted standards.

RGMPs

The RGMPs, launched in 2019, represent a framework that sets out clear expectations for consumers, investors and industry stakeholders as to what constitutes responsible gold mining.

All WGC members have committed to a three-year implementation timeline, and third-party assurance and public disclosure on that assurance.

The new commitment to report via TCFD offers clearer definition of how Principles 10.3 (‘Combating climate change’) and 10.4 (‘Energy efficiency and reporting’) will be implemented.

Randy Smallwood, chair of the WGC is delighted that the World Gold Council membership has unanimously agreed to adopt TCFD reporting.

“Making progress on climate change is a vital aspect of the gold mining sector’s commitment to responsible mining,” he says.

“TCFD-aligned reporting combined with the implementation of the RGMPs will further demonstrate to investors, consumers and other stakeholders, gold mining’s ability to make a positive and demonstrable contribution to social and environmental progress,” he adds.

Terry Heymann, WGC CFO believes climate change is the biggest threat of the 21st century and all industries need to show progress in responding to this.

“Investors are keen to better understand how their investments are being made climate-resilient in the face of a myriad of climate challenges and the gold industry is eager to show how it is adapting to these challenges.”

This includes reducing GHG emissions. “Through our own research over the last few years, we have been able to gather substantial evidence that the gold mining sector is in a strong position to reduce emissions in line with Paris Agreement targets,” he expands.

He says there is still much work to be done to reduce the emissions generated by the industry, there has been good progress. “Having our member companies commit to reporting via TCFD will help further demonstrate the industry’s determination to address climate-related risks and report on its progress in a clear and transparent way."