LONDON, March 24, 2014 /PRNewswire/ --
Anglo American today released its 13th sustainable development report, demonstrating progress during 2013 against set targets and highlighting the challenges to realise the Group's overall sustainable development objectives.
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Sir John Parker, Chairman of Anglo American, commented: "For Anglo American, the concept of mutual benefit underpins our approach to sustainability as we cannot operate successfully without the support of our key stakeholders. Our challenge is to continuously improve our relationships with our employees, local communities, host governments, NGOs and industry and this means listening, understanding and responding to their interests and concerns.
"Throughout 2013 we have focused on improving our sustainability performance, across the areas of employee and community health; safety; climate change and energy and water usage; stakeholder engagement and how we manage our operational risk. Our sustainable development report demonstrates how we have delivered positive benefits to our employees and our local communities, and how we have continued to improve the way we manage our impact on the environment."
Mark Cutifani, Chief Executive of Anglo American, commented: "As custodians of much of the world's mineral resources, the mining industry has a responsibility to ensure that the benefits of mining can be seen and felt by the countries in which we operate, in particular, by our host communities. The purpose of mining is to deliver the minerals and the metals the world needs for its continuing development. Our objective as a company is to do so in such a way that we can make a real and positive difference for people today, and in years to come."
Safety: Effectively managing mine safety risks to prevent injury and loss of life remains Anglo American's number one priority. During 2013, Anglo American made progress towards its goal to achieve zero harm in the workplace, reducing its Lost Time Injury Frequency Rate by 18% to 0.49 - the lowest level recorded for the Group - however much more work needs to be done. In 2013, 14 employees and contractors lost their lives and two are still missing. Anglo American believes its safety performance in 2013 was unacceptable and remains steadfast in its commitment to zero harm. It has implemented a new operating model, significantly boosting the proportion of planned versus unplanned work and has also consolidated its efforts to learn from incidents and promote a culture of empowerment on safety issues across the organisation.
Enterprise Development: Enterprise Development is recognised as one of the most effective means of ensuring that communities benefit from mining over the long-term. Over the past five years, Anglo American has supported more than 76,000 jobs and 48,111 individual businesses through schemes in South Africa and Chile. In 2013, Anglo American launched new schemes in Botswana and Brazil, based on our best-practice enterprise development approach, providing financial, business and implementation support to entrepreneurs within and outside of the Group's global supply chain.
Water: With more than 70% of its mines located in water stressed areas, water is more important than ever to the future of Anglo American. In 2013, the Group saved 32 million cubic metres of water - the equivalent of 13,000 Olympic swimming pools - through its industry-leading water efficiency programme tool, WETT, while its water recycling rate was maintained at 67%. The Group also has a clear understanding of what it will take to achieve our longer term goal of designing a water-neutral mine by 2030.
Health: Managing health risks protects Anglo American's employees and communities, enhances productivity, and helps to ensure the long-term future of the business. In 2013, Anglo American continued to drive improvements across its occupational health and community health programmes by focusing on innovation and partnerships. Anglo American's work to tackle HIV and TB continued, strengthened by improvements made to its health information system, theHealthSource. In 2013, the number of HIV-positive employees enrolled in treatment programmes increased to 75%, while the Group's TB infection rate remained well below the national average for mining companies in South Africa.
Climate Change and Energy: Climate change poses a significant business challenge for Anglo American. Energy and policy associated costs are rising, consumer demand for products is changing, and the threat of the physical impact of climate change on operations and host communities is heightening. In 2013, Anglo American completed 61 energy and carbon saving projects, which reduced energy consumption by 4.3 million gigajoules and greenhouse gas emissions by 3.5 million tonnes. Anglo American remains committed to its overarching ambition to operate high-efficiency/low (or no) carbon mines by 2030.
In 2013, Anglo American was recognised in the Dow Jones Sustainability Index for excellence in sustainability for the 11th consecutive year and as mining industry leader for the second year running, and was commended by the Carbon Disclosure Project for reducing carbon emissions and mitigating the risks of climate change. Anglo American was also awarded the 2013 PwC Building Public Trust Award for "Sustainability in Reporting" for FTSE100 companies, recognising its 2012 Sustainable Development Report.
To access the Sustainable Development Report 2013 in full, please visit our new reporting centre: http://www.angloamerican.com/reportingcentre
For more information about Anglo American's approach to sustainable development, please visit http://www.angloamerican.com/development.aspx or watch Anglo American's sustainable development videos on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/angloamerican
Notes to editors:
Anglo American is one of the world's largest mining companies, is headquartered in the UK and listed on the London and Johannesburg stock exchanges. Our portfolio of mining businesses meets our customers' changing needs and spans bulk commodities - iron ore and manganese, metallurgical coal and thermal coal; base metals and minerals - copper, nickel, niobium and phosphates; and precious metals and minerals - in which we are a global leader in both platinum and diamonds. At Anglo American, we are committed to working together with our stakeholders - our investors, our partners and our employees - to create sustainable value that makes a real difference, while upholding the highest standards of safety and responsibility across all our businesses and geographies. The company's mining operations, pipeline of growth projects and exploration activities span southern Africa, South America, Australia, North America, Asia and Europe.
http://www.angloamerican.com
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