Ratings agency Moody’s has released new environmental, social and governance (ESG) issuer profile and credit impact scores for the global metals and mining sector, which could negatively impact companies lagging behind.
They come on the heels of the agency’s ESG scores for a range of corporate issuers, utilities and US governments earlier this month and for sovereign issuers published in January.
With the ongoing transition to green energy set to boost demand for key materials including copper, cobalt, nickel and lithium, many miners have trumpeted their green credentials. Companies, however, have not been assigned scores for their undertakings nor for how they would impact their risk exposure, until now.
“Nearly all metals and mining companies, including coal companies, have exposure to environmental considerations that carry very high credit risks,” Benjamin Nelson, Moody’s VP-senior credit officer, said in a statement.
Moody’s is integrating more ESG in its credit analysis, which provides greater clarity, consistency and differentiation on risk exposure and the degree of credit impact.
For the rest of this article: https://www.mining.com/moodys-new-scores-to-reflect-esg-risks-on-miners/