MUMBAI: The World Gold Council, the market development organisation for the gold industry, on Monday announced that its members, 33 gold miners, have committed to reporting their positions and progress on climate-related risks in line with the recommendations of Task Force for Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD).
The TCFD, created in 2015 by the Financial Stability Board (FSB), has developed a framework to help public companies and other organisations disclose climate-related risks and opportunities.
"The WGC membership has unanimously agreed to adopt TCFD reporting. Making progress on climate change is a vital aspect of the gold mining sector's commitment to responsible mining. TCFD-aligned reporting combined with the implementation of the Responsible Gold Mining Principles (RGMPs) will further demonstrate to investors, consumers and other stakeholders, gold mining's ability to make a positive and demonstrable contribution to social and environmental progress," Randy Smallwood, Chair of the World Gold Council, said in a statement.
The TCFD recommendations and reporting framework is now widely recognised as the preferred method for embedding climate change into the governance, strategy and risk management systems of organisations, and the means by which they disclose comprehensive and high-quality information on these factors to investors and stakeholders.
This unified approach to climate-related reporting further clarifies the commitments already embedded in WGC's RGMPs, which require companies to take action to combat climate change and report in line with accepted standards.
The RGMPs, launched in 2019, represent a framework that sets out clear expectations for consumers, investors and industry stakeholders as to what constitutes responsible gold mining.
All WGC members have committed to a three-year implementation timeline and third-party assurance and public disclosure on that assurance.
"Climate change is the biggest threat of the 21st century and all industries need to show progress in responding to this. Investors are keen to better understand how their investments are being made climate-resilient in the face of a myriad of climate challenges and the gold industry is eager to show how it is adapting to these challenges," Terry Heymann, Chief Financial Officer at the WGC, stated.
He said that through WGC's research over the last few years, it has been able to gather substantial evidence that the gold mining sector is in a strong position to reduce emissions in line with Paris Agreement targets.
"Having our member companies commit to reporting via TCFD will help further demonstrate the industry's determination to address climate-related risks and report on its progress in a clear and transparent way," he added.