LONDON, Oct 29 (Reuters) – The boss of one of the world’s biggest mining companies wants the industry to do more than talk about winning a social licence in an increasingly carbon constrained world. The problem is that his company and others probably won’t like the solutions.
Rio Tinto Chief Executive Jean-Sebastien Jacques told the London Metal Exchange (LME) annual forum on Monday that mining needed to do more on the environmental, social and corporate governance (ESG) front in order to remain relevant and profitable as the world deals with climate change.
“Lots of people are talking about it, but I’m not sure there is action,” Jacques said. Notwithstanding that Jacques himself was talking about it, he is probably correct that the mining industry, and more broadly the natural resources sector, has yet to fully get to grips with how the industry will look in the next 20-30 years.
But if Jacques and other major miners, such as BHP Group , Glencore and Anglo American, are looking for concrete action, there is one word they should consider. Disclosure. But not just any kind of disclosure, rather an unrelenting, complete and determined disclosure that encapsulates the entire spectrum of ESG concerns.
Mining companies should be prepared to fully disclose the exact amount of carbon released for each tonne of material produced, and then go even further by disclosing the amount of carbon generated in turning a raw material such as iron ore into steel.
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