Modern Mining December 2024

AFRICA

Emphasis on ESG is becoming more prevalent.

Mark Gibson, RSK’s Africa ESG Director.

As of January 2024, the Zimbabwe Stock Exchange has adopted the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) Standards.

ESG disclosures have become a de facto requirement By Mark Gibson, RSK’s Africa ESG Director Disclosing information that covers a business’s operations and risks in environmental stewardship, social responsibility and corporate governance (ESG) plays an important part in how it is seen by investors, customers and clients. ESG disclosures are becoming mandatory in many places, both in Zimbabwe and overseas, and RSK’s Africa ESG Director Mark Gibson explains how mining houses can leverage their alignment with ESG standards for an advantage in business and investment.

E SG reporting has been gaining ground worldwide for some time. It effectively measures performance across three key areas: environmental sustainability, social responsibility and corporate governance. This reporting is typically done using predefined key performance indicators and metrics. It isn’t driven by finance or accounting concerns – the goal is to disclose the information that investors and regulators need to make decisions about the company’s ESG performance to compare it with other businesses. In other words, ESG disclosures are made alongside financial ones. On the environmental side, metrics such as the amounts of materials used in manufacturing, total energy consumption, waste generated, and greenhouse gases produced are expected. For social, some requirements include recruitment and turnover, health and safety incidents, gender diversity of employees and average hours of training per employee. Governance reporting

24  MODERN MINING  www.modernminingmagazine.co.za | DECEMBER 2024