Nature Positive Role of the Mining and Metals Sector

Embrace standards and transparency To improve traceability and transparency, companies should identify, assess and disclose their nature-related impacts, dependencies, risks and opportunities across the supply chain (see Table 1), incorporating environmental data from suppliers where possible. Where sourcing location data is available, companies can also use other available resources to screen supply chain risks, such as the Integrated Biodiversity Assessment Tool (IBAT),263 WWF’s Biodiversity Risk Filter264 and Global Forest Watch.265 Companies should work to improve access to and quality of data and enable data sharing across the value chain by engaging and collaborating with others, such as upstream and downstream companies, traders and distributors, financial institutions, industry associations and NGOs: –Engage with suppliers on environmental data requirements and develop common data requests, supporting capacity-building and using collective buying power to drive transparency. –Establish data needs of downstream customers and collectively develop solutions to address these needs. –Develop environmental data management and sharing technologies. For example, several mining companies are piloting blockchain technologies to improve traceability through the value chain, such as Teck Resources’s digital product passport pilot with germanium,266 Rio Tinto’s START sustainability label for aluminium,267 and De Beers Group’s Tracr diamond blockchain solution.268 To improve the credibility of transparency efforts and provide a guarantee of the implementation of responsible mining and production standards, companies can engage in robust third-party auditing of sustainability efforts, including engagement with relevant external stakeholders and rightsholders. This includes using assurance frameworks such as IRMA,269 The Copper Mark270 and the Aluminium Stewardship Initiative,271 and aligning practices for priority assets that have material impacts and dependencies on nature. Engage with suppliers and source responsibly In addition to improving access to and quality of data from suppliers, companies can: –Strategically engage with vendors to drive nature action by joining forces with other purchasers to call on suppliers to set carbon reduction targets. –Incorporate nature-related performance criteria into the supplier due diligence and management processes by establishing restrictions such as deforestation-free,272 setting clear environmental controls on materials sourced from ASM and eliminating sourcing from illegal miners. Efforts to source responsibly should be taken within the context of avoiding and preventing leakage of impacts. Companies should prioritize collaborating with existing vendors to reduce their nature impacts, given that switching to alternative suppliers in the same region or sourcing from different countries altogether can lead to re-routing of original impacts through less discriminating purchasers.273 Collaborate with and support customers To de-risk nature commitments and support nature- related investments, companies can form strategic partnerships with downstream customers to reduce the environmental impacts of products, starting with a flagship initiative and drawing learnings from climate collaboration. For example: –Hydro has established three environmental partner package models for customers274 and launched a strategic partnership with Volvo Group to enable the global transport manufacturer to reach its 2040 climate target of delivering net-zero vehicles as part of the Forum’s First Movers Coalition (FMC).275 –Anglo American Platinum has signed a collaboration agreement with BMW and Sasol to bring hydrogen fuel cell vehicles (FCEVs) to South Africa, providing the platinum group metals required for FCEVs.276 –Rio Tinto and Alcoa have launched a joint venture, Elysis, to scale up and commercialize the world’s first carbon-free aluminium smelting process;277 investments from Apple have also supported the technology’s development.278 Beyond enabling existing operations, companies can also collaborate with downstream customers to transition their product portfolio in alignment with the nature-positive transition. This includes investing in the scale-up of critical minerals supply to support the clean energy transition and scaling down supply of products that are incompatible with a nature- positive future, such as coal for power generation. To de-risk nature commitments and support nature-related investments, companies can form strategic partnerships with downstream customers. Nature Positive: Role of the Mining and Metals Sector 41