World Environment Day 2021

This Saturday (5 June 2021) is World Environment Day – a day dedicated to encouraging worldwide awareness and action to protect the environment. This year’s theme is ecosystem restoration, which aligns with our focus on land rehabilitation and biodiversity conservation wherever our global activities take place. The theme not only aligns with our Values of responsibility and integrity but also with our new group-wide Environment Policy.

World Environment Day 2021 will also see the launch of the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration – a global initiative to encourage governments, companies and citizens to do their part in ensuring we treat our planet responsibly. We recognise that we are custodians of the land on which we operate and are committed to responsible land stewardship and meeting community expectations. 

Our ambition is to be leaders in Environment, and to minimise any potential impacts of our activities on the environment through environmental stewardship and responsible resource management across our global operations. To achieve this, we have developed and implemented robust standards for land, biodiversity, air emissions, energy, water and waste. In a first for the mining and trading industry in addressing Climate Change, we launched a net zero total emissions ambition by 2050, continuing to align our business strategy with the goals of the Paris Agreement.

We are also undertaking a number of projects in the area of biodiversity conservation. Our team in South Africa supported efforts made by The Care for Wild Rhino Sanctuary (CFWRS) in order to protect and rehabilitate critically endangered Black Rhinos and threatened White Rhinos. Due to the drastic increase in the number of rhino-poaching incidents in the region, resulting in a large number of orphaned rhinos, the need for a specialised sanctuary to rehabilitate and eventually release these rescued animals back into the wild became necessary. We paid a visit to the rescue site in March and donated R100 000 to the organisation. With the donation, we are supporting CFWRS in their goal to help improve the sustainability of one of the world’s most endangered animals while creating job opportunities for local community members.

On the other side of the world in Canada, Raglan Mine has conducted ongoing environmental monitoring efforts and collaborated with the Makivik Corporation's Nunavik Research Centre to carry out a long-term study on the health of fish in the area – an important part of the diet for local communities. To date, findings indicate that the arctic char populations in Lakes Pangaligiak and Tasialurjuaq, Deception River, and Deception Bay are healthy and safe for human consumption. All environmental monitoring activity carried out by Raglan Mine over the past 20 years support these conclusions. The Nunavik Research Centre continues to provide support and monitoring on the health of the fish, particularly during annual traditional fishing activities carried out near the mine by the Salluit community.

We take our responsibilities to our people, society and the environment seriously, aligning our activities with our Values and contributing to the UN Sustainable development goals. From project design to operational closure, we focus on reducing our operational footprint and identifying, managing and addressing potential impacts. As demonstrated by our increasing achievements in successful site rehabilitation, we are committed to continuously improving our efforts in rehabilitation and closure, supporting long-term sustainable outcomes for the environment and our communities – now and for decades to come.

For more information, see our Sustainability Report and our Environmental Policy.