The World Gold Council today announced that 33 of the world’s most forward-thinking gold miners have agreed to declare their positions and progress on climate-related risks in accordance with the Taskforce for Climate-related Financial Disclosures’ recommendations (TCFD).
The TCFD recommendations and reporting framework are now widely accepted as the best way to integrate climate change into an organization’s governance, strategy, and risk management systems, as well as the best way to provide investors and stakeholders with comprehensive and high-quality information on these issues.
The commitments currently entrenched in the World Gold Council’s Responsible Gold Mining Principles (RGMPs), which compel firms to take action to mitigate climate change and report in accordance with recognised standards, are further clarified by this unified approach to climate-related reporting.
The Responsible Gold Mining Practices (RGMPs), which were established in 2019, are a framework that establishes clear expectations for consumers, investors, and industry stakeholders regarding what constitutes responsible gold mining. All WGC members have agreed to a three-year implementation timeframe, as well as third-party assurance and public disclosure. Principles 10.3 (‘Combating climate change’) and 10.4 (‘Energy efficiency and reporting’) will be applied more clearly under the new commitment to report via TCFD.
“I am thrilled that the World Gold Council membership has unanimously agreed to embrace TCFD reporting,” said Randy Smallwood, Chair of the World Gold Council. The gold mining industry’s commitment to responsible mining includes making progress on climate change. Gold mining’s ability to make a positive and demonstrable contribution to social and environmental progress will be further demonstrated to investors, consumers, and other stakeholders through TCFD-aligned reporting combined with the execution of the RGMPs.”
“Climate change is the greatest challenge of the twenty-first century, and all businesses must show progress in responding to it,” said Terry Heymann, Chief Financial Officer of the World Gold Council. Investors are eager to learn more about how their assets are being made climate-resilient in the face of a slew of climate concerns, and the gold industry is eager to demonstrate how it is responding. This involves lowering greenhouse gas emissions. We have gathered extensive evidence that the gold mining sector is in a strong position to reduce emissions in line with the Paris Agreement targets through our own study over the previous few years. Although there is still much work to be done to reduce our industry’s emissions, we are making good progress. Having our member companies commit to reporting via TCFD would assist the industry demonstrate its commitment to addressing climate-related risks and reporting on its progress in a clear and transparent manner.”
