One of the world’s largest diversified resource companies has yielded to mounting pressure from climate change activism, and will invest heavily in environmentally sustainable practices.
Glencore has confirmed it will transition to a low carbon economy through focusing on more eco-friendly commodities that underpin energy and mobility transformation. It will limit its coal production capacity and lift production of copper, cobalt, nickel, vanadium and zinc.
“To meet the growing needs of a lower carbon economy, Glencore aims to prioritise its capital investment to grow production of commodities essential to the energy and mobility transition,” the company said in a public statement. “We must invest in assets that will be resilient to regulatory, physical and operational risks related to climate change.”
As part of this transition, the company will need to make a strong business case for shareholders.
“We believe this transition is a key part of the global response to the increasing risks posed by climate change,” the company said.
Glencore previously confirmed it was already on-track to meet its first target of reducing greenhouse gas emissions intensity by 5 per cent by the year 2020.
“Every three years, we will review any changes to the nationally determined contributions in-line with the Paris Agreement mechanism, and other relevant policy, economic and technology developments to assess societal progress in the energy transition and to update our scenario-based portfolio assessment,” the company said.
Glencore will also review whether its membership to different trade associations still align with the company’s commitment to limiting the impact of climate change.
“The result of this review, including any material misalignments identified and actions that will be taken, will be made public in 2019,” the company said.
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