Our Sustainable Growth and Impact strategy is a critical driver of embedding ESG into everything we do – positioning Exxaro to win in a just, sustainable and responsible manner.
Our strategy is an integrated, multi-stakeholder approach to positioning the business for a resilient and sustainable future by transforming our business and evolving into a diversified resources group. To do this responsibly, we consider our broader impact and material ESG and compliance matters, which were considered in the formulation of our ESG policy.
Our ESG policy, which is near completion, outlines the actions to embed ESG in our organisation, including objectives that support the achievement of our Sustainable Growth and Impact strategic objectives. It also sets out the principles that inform our approach to ESG matters and describes our commitment to sustainability and maintaining sound governance procedures.
Stakeholders are a critical enabler of our sustainable development and business success, which is why we adopt a stakeholder-inclusive approach, collaborating and engaging with key stakeholders in achieving our goals and implementing initiatives. Our draft ESG policy will inform stakeholders about our commitment to responsible investment practices as we integrate ESG considerations into our investment decisions and management processes. The policy is under review to ensure effective stakeholder engagement, building consensus and forging a commitment on an integrated approach to ESG.
Our approach to ESG is embedded in how we are transitioning into a low-carbon business – responding to climate change by transforming the business in a systematic and responsible manner. This is supported by our approved decarbonisation plan, detailed here.
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Transition at speed and scale |
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Make our minerals and energy businesses thrive |
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Empower people to create impact |
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Be carbon neutral by 2050 |
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Become a catalyst for economic growth and environmental stewardship |
Environment |
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Social |
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Governance |
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More information on our Sustainable Growth and Impact strategy can be found in our integrated report.
To ensure we effectively respond to ESG matters and improve our performance, we initiated a baseline assessment and gap analysis of our ESG projects and initiatives, through our ESG portfolio management office (PMO), to be concluded in 2025. The PMO has also embarked on the collation and audit of the ESG portfolio to further enhance business value and address areas of concern that could impede the timely and successful execution of projects and initiatives.
Materiality considerations serve as a crucial guide for our reporting and ESG practices. The matters we deem material are those that significantly influence our ability to create and sustain value for Exxaro, our stakeholders and the natural environment. We use the impact materiality lens to guide the information relevant for our ESG reporting. Our strategic objectives and enterprise risk management (ERM) framework enable us to respond to these matters.
The 2024 review identified 24 material matters, grouped into seven overarching themes. The themes and matters unpacked in this report are as follows:
Operational and financial |
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Adapting to a changing context | Material matters | Detailed disclosure |
| Our operating context is ever changing, with social, political and economic issues influencing our ability to create value. |
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Below and board key matters in focus | |
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Driving business resilience | ||
| Business resilience supports the achievement of our strategic objectives. We enhance our business resilience through robust financial results, building strength and protecting human and labour rights in our supply chain, effective capital allocation, compliance excellence, entrenching innovation and driving digitalisation. |
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Information on innovation and digitalisation is disclosed across the report | |
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Executing our strategy | ||
| Recognising that climate change is an undeniable reality, we developed a strategy and business objectives to respond to the short and long-term risks and opportunities it presents. |
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Transitioning into a low-carbon business | |
Environment |
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Responsible environmental stewardship | ||
| We recognise the impact of mining on the environment and must ensure we are responsible stewards of the natural resources upon which our operations and communities rely. Our goal is to ensure a sustainable future for our employees, communities and the planet. |
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Our environmental stewardship to Managing waste responsibly | |
Social |
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Building sustainable communities | ||
| Our business activities affect our stakeholders, who, in turn, respond to these impacts. Maintaining our social licence to operate depends on the strength of our relationships with our stakeholders, how we protect the natural environment and our adherence to legislation. |
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Building sustainable communities to Upholding and respecting human rights | |
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Enabling a thriving workforce | ||
| Our employees drive our strategy and enable our performance. Delivering on our strategic goals requires a safe working environment and a culture that promotes DEI, while driving adaptability and innovation. |
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Empowering our people to Investing in talent | |
Governance |
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Principled governance | ||
| We prioritise corporate governance principles to enhance stakeholder trust, strengthen our reputation as a good corporate citizen and bolster our resilience in a changing environment. |
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Prioritising good governance to Remuneration report | |
Our ESG governance framework enables the effective implementation of the policies, practices and procedures adopted to manage and enhance our ESG performance.
The board is ultimately responsible and accountable for the delivery of ESG commitments. The board is supported by:
Implementation is overseen by the relevant executive leadership and operationalised by business unit (BU) managers.
The ESG steering committee supports Exxaro's ongoing commitment to ESG, sustainability and other relevant public policy matters. The committee ensures ESG is integrated into our strategy, and that we consciously embed ESG in everything we do. Exxaro's ESG PMO monitors execution and drives accountability across the organisation.
Read ESG governance structure beyond compliance and committee reports for details on board committee mandates and management.
The ESG steering committee reports to the group executive committee on ESG performance, measurement and improvements.
To ensure the PMO's success and management of multi-stakeholder organisational change, we are aligning the right resources and necessary skills sets, which include project management, risk management, systems and assurance, financial management and internal ESG experts. The key objective is to ensure that ESG-related goals and targets fit into the organisation's strategic objectives.
The ESG steering committee and PMO drive ESG implementation and ensure decarbonisation and other critical ESG factors are integrated across all business levels. The committee is also responsible for reviewing the decarbonisation project business cases, monitoring budget spent and advising the technical team on further risk mitigation. The SERC is responsible for the approval of the decarbonisation strategy.
The challenges facing our macro-environment influence how we manage our ESG impacts to ensure and enhance business sustainability and resilience.
We operate in a country facing energy security, infrastructure, water scarcity and socio-economic development challenges. Additionally, the mining industry is a socially and environmentally impactful industry where companies, their peers and key stakeholders need to foster partnerships to collaborate on policy formulation, enhance South Africa's socio-economic development and contribute to the low-carbon transition.
The global imperative for companies to enhance their ESG practices and report on their impact timeously and transparently has gained significant traction and prominence.
Among other factors, this is driven by:
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While we explore options to adopt the new ISSB standards, we continue to support TCFD recommendations and align our reporting and business processes accordingly. Our Climate Change Response strategy also aligns with TCFD recommendations. |
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Supporting the Taskforce on Nature-related Financial Disclosures (TNFD) will enable us to identify and manage nature-related risks. We have prepared a TNFD reporting plan, with the Locate, Evaluate, Assess, Prepare (LEAP) approach set for implementation in early 2025. |
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We sponsored the South African pavilion at the UN Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP29). |
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We are a signatory to the UNGC Active level and support the 10 universal sustainability principles. |
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Exxaro participates in the Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP) climate change, forestation and water programmes. |
| Target setting and remuneration | Our executive remuneration includes material ESG targets for water and energy efficiency. |
| Performance incentives | Our group short-term incentive (STI) and long-term incentive (LTI) schemes incentivise delivery against key financial, operational and ESG goals aligned to approved annual business plans. |
| Group-wide ESG policies, procedures, strategies and frameworks | We are guided by umbrella and respective ESG policies, procedures, strategies and frameworks that support our approach to ESG management and performance. |
Exxaro's climate change position statement unpacks our journey to be carbon neutral by 2050, and our Climate Change Response strategy explains how we aim to achieve this and our efforts to build portfolio resilience in line with our Sustainable Growth and Impact strategy. Our response strategy and position statement will be updated in 2025 to reflect changes made to our decarbonisation roadmap and to consider new developments in climate change reporting regulations.
Exxaro voluntarily endorses the 17 UN SDGs. We also participate in South Africa's National Business Initiative to align the SDGs with the country's National Development Plan and implement leading practices to uphold the most material SDGs so that our business leaves a lasting positive impact.
The SDGs that Exxaro materially impacts are highlighted in colour.
We have set targets aligned with the SDGs for our Social Impact strategy.
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