Governments and other international stakeholders will drive environmental and socially sustainable practices across the mining industry from the top down over the coming years, in line with commitments to higher ethical standards and the Paris Agreement on climate change.
This is according to Fitch Solutions Macro Research’s new ‘Global Sustainability Policy Index’, which tallies global sustainability policies across regions and assesses the major investment themes affecting corporate sectors globally.
Other findings from the index for the mining sector indicate that large corporates will also assume leadership in improving their environmental footprint, primarily through a concerted exit from coal mining and a shift towards new-energy metals, while smaller miners will prioritise profitability instead.
The index states that while consumers will have a lower overall impact on sustainability standards adoption across the mining industry, they will contribute to companies’ increasing focus on improving their social sustainability profile by increasing supply chain transparency, particularly in relation to in-demand minerals that are commonly sourced unethically, such as diamonds or cobalt.
Blockchain technology has the potential to serve as a powerful tool for mining companies looking to improve their social and ethical supply chain standards as consumer pressure in this regard continues to grow, the index notes.