Exxaro Resources, one of South Africa’s leading diversified mining companies, which operates in coal, and renewable energy production and is invested in iron ore and zinc commodities has won the Best Sustainability Reporting Award in the Metals & Mining category in the 2021 ESG Reporting Awards.

Exxaro was short-listed in two categories, Best Sustainability Reporting and Best Climate-Related Reporting. They won the Best Sustainability Reporting: Metals & Mining.

The ESG Reporting Awards are devoted to assessing and evaluating the best listed companies in relation to sustainability and climate-related reporting from around the world.

“We are humbled to be recognised for our commitment to sustainability and transparency in the metals and mining sector,” said Exxaro Resources CEO Mxolisi Mgojo. “Our environmental, social and governance (ESG) approach go beyond mere environmental impact and related governance issues, such as climate change. At our core we have a deep appreciation for the everyday lives of people.”

“In our view, if our host communities are struggling so will business, with a knock-on effect on stakeholder value creation and national economic performance. Our approach to ESG is holistic and aims to achieve ‘value beyond compliance’ and sustainability in all our operations. This has been our approach before the Covid-19 pandemic and will continue to drive our operations long after the pandemic is over,” Mgojo said.

The 2021 ESG Reporting Awards panel of independent judges looked for outstanding merit in ESG, sustainability and climate-related reporting and disclosure. In assessing entries for each category, the judges examined each company’s overall reporting strategy along with its engagement and communication practices towards investors and stakeholders across all areas of corporate sustainability and climate change policy.

In addition to its reporting standards Exxaro has also strategically invested in green energy. It contributes to South Africa’s national energy supply through Cennergi, its wholly owned subsidiary since 1 April 2020, which has developed two wind energy projects in theEastern Cape. First put into operation in 2016, together the Tsitsikamma Community Wind Farm, 30km north-west of Cape St Francis, and the Amakhala Emoyeni RE Project plant, located between Cookhouse and Bedford, have a generation capacity of 239MW.

Mgojo said, “While we are immensely proud of such global recognition, we dare not grow complacent. We will continue to set stringent goals for our business to guide our sustainability journey and demonstrate value creation, as we strive to continue to set a new benchmark for reporting and sustainable investing.

“This journey is not about recognition, but to ensure that we remain committed to creating a better present and future for all who encounter our work – from communities to our shareholders; from our clients to our employees,” he said.

A commitment to transparency, ethics and integrity

Exxaro remains committed to creating and preserving value for its stakeholders. This commitment is guided by its values and requires effective and efficient governance processes and practices informed by good corporate citizenship pillars, namely transparency, accountability and integrity. It continuously aims to be a responsible and ethical corporate citizen and its approach encompasses among others, fraud prevention, anti-bribery and anti-corruption.

Exxaro has sound ESG principles that deliver sustainable economic returns and tangible benefits for all stakeholders. The group is ranked #1 for ESG performance amongst coal resources companies’ metrics, in terms of the FTSE Russell ESG index. The company’s exemplary ESG performance over the past year is evident in its above-target safety performance, its management of COVID-19 risks and its climate change response strategy and demonstrating its commitment to the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD) guidelines.

Selected key sustainability metrics have been independently assured by PwC, which confirms the company’s commitment to continuously improving its reporting to stakeholders.