Managing ESG

How we embed ESG

Executing our Sustainable Growth and Impact strategy enables us to embed ESG in everything we do. This is guided by Exxaro’s draft ESG policy, which includes our ESG objectives aligned to our strategy.

Our approach to ESG is informed and guided by:

Our Sustainable Growth and Impact strategy

ESG commitments and objectives as outlined in our policy

Identifying and addressing material matters

Internal and external factors

Global best practice

Sustainable Growth and Impact strategy

Our strategy takes an integrated, multi-stakeholder approach to building a resilient and sustainable future for the business. We aim to achieve this by transforming our operations and evolving into a diversified natural resources group. In doing so, we carefully consider our broader impacts and key ESG and compliance issues, which informed the development of our draft ESG policy.

Strategic objectives that support the execution of our strategy

Transition at speed and scale

We implement disciplined capital allocation while driving a positive energy transition and creating social impact. We will leverage our innovative organisational intelligence and take our people along as we focus on building a diversified natural resources portfolio.

Make our minerals and energy businesses thrive*

We enhance focus on our core delivery areas of minerals and energy by expanding our footprint, simplifying our portfolio through targeted divestments of non-core assets and maintaining strong operational and digital excellence.

Empower people to create impact

We empower people to create impact and we contribute towards sustainable livelihoods while ensuring our people have the requisite capabilities, skills, mindset and passion to do their best work, a core anchor in achieving our purpose.

Be carbon neutral by 2050

Through focused portfolio decarbonisation and supporting initiatives, we continue to power positive social, economic and environmental impact.

Become a catalyst for economic growth and environmental stewardship

We aim to positively impact our ecosystem during and after our operations in minerals and energy, contribute to community projects and build thriving, sustainable businesses through our social impact programmes. These programmes aim to drive lasting, scalable socio-economic upliftment and prosperity, independent of our presence and involvement.

^*Formerly referred to as "Make our minerals and energy businesses thrive".

Strategic enablers that support decisive strategy execution

Data and technology

We use data, analytics and technology to advance innovation and drive efficiencies, productivity and targeted improvements across our business. This supports a low‑carbon future and unlocks long‑term competitiveness and strategic value.

Skills and talent development

We focus on building talent while fostering workforce capability to drive successful delivery against our strategy. To ensure sustainable long‑term resilience, we provide relevant skills development programmes to our people. We also offer bursaries and internships to nurture and create a resilient talent pipeline.

Partnerships

Partnerships with our stakeholders, including suppliers and industry players, are central to our success. Partnerships foster collaboration and provide a positive platform to facilitate growth, innovation and broad‑based impact.

Capital allocation

Our disciplined capital allocation framework guides our investment decisions, anchoring our investment criteria. This is essential for financial robustness, effective risk management and continued prudent strategic investment execution.

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 conducted a baseline assessment and gap analysis of our ESG projects and initiatives through our ESG PMO. The PMO also developed an ESG KPI template for consideration and application by project managers to facilitate the integration of ESG metrics during project development and implementation.

ESG commitments and objectives

Our draft ESG policy sets out the principles that inform our approach to ESG matters and describes our commitment to sustainability and maintaining sound governance procedures. The policy aligns with global standards, stakeholder expectations and business priorities, enabling agile responses to emerging trends, regulatory shifts and operating context changes. We expect the draft policy to be approved by the executive committee in 2026.

Our commitment	Objectives to achieve this		Aligned to our Sustainable Growth and Impact strategy

Environmental stewardship	Decarbonisation and resilience	Implement cross-cutting measures to decrease carbon emissions from our operations and build on adaptation and resilience
We are committed to protecting and conserving our environment for sustainable use by future generations. We identify significant impacts, implement measures to mitigate or minimise these and maintain systems to address non-conformances where they arise.
	Air quality	Reduce air pollution, including dust fallout, PM₁₀ and PM_2.5
	Rehabilitation programme	Undertake rehabilitation programmes to ensure a positive social impact legacy and develop long-term closure strategies
	Biodiversity management	Protect and conserve biodiversity within our area of influence through the implementation of management plans and initiatives that promote and enhance biological diversity
As a responsible business, we recognise that our ability to operate in the future depends on how effectively we manage environmental impacts across the value chain. We also acknowledge our role in addressing global challenges, such as climate change, and are adapting the way we operate to support an inclusive transition.	Biodiversity management
	Energy and water management	Set water and energy targets aligned to our national benchmarks, industry standards and site objectives, allowing for future resilience of the business, environment and communities
	Waste management	Minimise our environmental impact by promoting waste management hierarchy and transforming waste streams into opportunities for a circular economy model
	Strategic partnerships	Partner with various stakeholders to enable the successful delivery and broader positive impact of our ESG objectives

Social impact	Health and safety	Power zero harm through a risk-based mindset and boost our employees’ and host communities’ quality of life through integrated health and wellness programmes
We recognise that our long-term success is intrinsically linked to the wellbeing of our employees, contractors and host communities. By fostering a safe, inclusive and equitable working environment, and by investing in local economic development, we strengthen our social licence to operate and contribute to South Africa’s transformation goals. We strive to empower people to reach their potential, support sustainable livelihoods and build resilient communities that can contribute meaningfully to society and a thriving economy beyond the life of our mining operations.
	Social impact	Contribute towards social cohesion and sustainable community development
	Social impact
	Human rights	Respect and uphold human rights policy provisions for all people in Exxaro’s sphere of influence, ie where we have the ability to effect investments and developments
	DEI	Be the industry leader in diversity and inclusion, developing capabilities and leaders, achieving compliance and fostering inclusion
	Land management	Leverage Exxaro’s land assets to support emerging farmers and create sustainable post-mining economies
	Partnerships and funding	Use Exxaro’s capabilities and resources to attract partners and create impact at scale

Governance	King IV and TCFD	Align the organisation’s governance and disclosure practices with the principles of King IV and the climate-related reporting framework of the TCFD to promote transparency, accountability and responsible decision making
Governance
We embed ESG considerations into our governance systems and ensure that our decisions are guided by integrity, fairness and compliance with applicable laws, regulations and global best practice standards. This enables us to create enduring value and maintain legitimacy as a responsible corporate citizen.
	Ethical practices and anti-bribery and corruption	Foster an ethical culture that promotes integrity, implements safeguards to mitigate bribery, corruption and conflicts of interest, and is supported by clear policies, accountable leadership and effective mechanisms for reporting and addressing misconduct
	Governance frameworks	Establish clear governance structures, policies and oversight mechanisms that define roles, responsibilities and decision-making authority across the organisation
Effective leadership, sound risk management and transparent accountability structures are essential to maintaining the confidence of our stakeholders.	Governance frameworks
	Capital allocation framework	Ensure that capital investment decisions are disciplined, transparent and aligned with long-term value creation, sustainability objectives and prudent financial stewardship
	Compliance and risk management	Identify, assess and manage legal, regulatory and operational risks through clear compliance processes and integrated risk management practices
	Board composition	Maintain a diverse, independent and suitably skilled board capable of providing effective oversight, strategic guidance and balanced decision making

Materiality

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 2025 review identified 25 material matters, grouped into seven overarching themes.

This report has detailed information about the following matters and themes (summarised in our integrated report):

Building sustainable communities

Maintaining our social licence to operate depends on the strength of our relationships with host communities. We aim to foster mutually beneficial relationships with them, and invest in local development and sustainable job creation. As we diversify our business and contribute to the transition to a low-carbon economy, we are committed to ensuring our communities’ long-term sustainability.

Material matters

Empowering people to Embedding human rights

Integrated report, social and relationship capital

Social licence to operate
Upholding human rights^
Sustainable job and business creation
Supporting an impactful transition to a low-carbon economy^

Enabling a thriving workforce

Our employees are central to our business, driving our strategy and enabling our performance. We ensure a safe working environment, promote health and wellness, and maintain labour relations based on open communication and respect. Employee attraction and retention are vital to our growth and sustainability. Developing employees’ skills and creating an inclusive workplace empowers employees to grow and contribute to our business.

Material matters

Prioritising safety to Developing future-ready talent

Integrated report, Human capital

Health, safety and wellness
Employee attraction, retention, development and DEI^
Labour relations

Principled governance

We uphold good corporate governance principles to build stakeholder trust, enhance our reputation as a responsible corporate citizen and boost our resilience in a changing environment.

Material matters

Prioritising good governance to Remuneration-report

Integrated report, governance

Transparency, ethics and integrity
Embedding ESG
Legal, regulatory, risk and compliance excellence

Responsible environmental stewardship

We are responsible stewards of the natural resources upon which our operations and communities rely. Not only do we aim to mitigate and manage our negative impact on natural resources, we also contribute to enhancing ecosystem resilience. Our goal is to ensure a sustainable future for our employees, communities and the planet.

Material matters

Our environmental stewardship to Managing waste responsibly

Integrated report, Natural capital

Carbon emissions reduction and impact of climate change
Water stewardship
Waste and pollution management
Biodiversity and rehabilitation management
Environmental incidents

We provide detailed disclosure of the following themes and matters in the integrated report (summarised in this report):

Adapting to a changing context

We operate in a dynamic environment, shaped by social, political and economic issues. Globally, we are exposed to fluctuations in commodity prices, which impact the revenue generated from our resources. We are also affected by South African country risks, including policy uncertainty, inflation, stagnant economic growth, and infrastructure and service delivery challenges. To remain resilient, we must respond to these factors with agility while anticipating the future.

Material matters

How we embed ESG

Integrated report, Operating context

Macro-economic and geopolitical environment
South African infrastructure and service delivery challenges^
Commodity price fluctuations

Driving business resilience

Business resilience supports the execution of our strategy. We reinforce our resilience through solid financial performance, supply chain management, effective capital allocation, responsiveness to logistical impediments, and private-public partnerships. Our innovation mindset and adoption of emerging technologies mean that we increasingly face cybersecurity risks. Cybersecurity measures are essential to mitigate these risks and protect our data assets.

Material matters

Integrated report, Intellectual capital

Strong financial performance and capital excellence^
Logistical impediments
Supply chain management
Innovation and digitalisation
Cybersecurity*

Executing our strategy

Climate change presents significant risks for organisations that do not adapt. Furthermore, the transition to a low-carbon economy brings opportunities for organisations to evolve their business models. Our response includes diversifying our assets, growing our energy solutions business and optimising our coal portfolio by disposing of non-core assets.

Material matters

Decarbonising our operations

Integrated report, Our strategy

Diversify responsibly into energy transition metals while optimising our coal business^
Build a leading energy solutions business

^ Matter renamed or expanded.

* New matter.

External drivers influencing our ESG practices

Global, local and industry drivers

Stakeholders assess a company’s success through a broader lens, looking beyond financial performance to its environmental impact, social responsibility and governance standards. Several forces are driving this shift:

Investors increasingly consider ESG factors in investment decisions
Customers prefer products that are ethically sourced and sustainably produced
Employees seek employers whose values align with their own
Governments are tightening ESG regulations and compliance expectations

To remain sustainable in the long term, companies must respond effectively to all three ESG dimensions. Expectations for transparent and comparable reporting continue to rise due to:

Greater due diligence requirements across jurisdictions
Increasing regulatory pressure for more rigorous disclosures
Converging global reporting standards that require consistency
A demand for transparency and comparability from investors and other stakeholders to support decision making

Furthermore, the global transition towards a low-carbon economy is fuelling ongoing demand for energy transition metals such as copper and manganese, which are crucial across the renewable energy value chain. Manganese, in particular, is gaining significance given its importance for steel-making and green infrastructure.

How we are responding

Adopting global best practice

We have a draft ESG policy, as well as procedures, strategies and frameworks that guide and support our approach to ESG management and performance.

Our adoption of TCFD recommendations – which are the foundation of the IFRS S2 standards – and aligning our reporting and business processes accordingly continues as we explore options to adopt IFRS S1 and S2. Our Climate Change Response strategy also aligns with TCFD recommendations.
Exxaro’s climate change position statement unpacks our journey to be carbon neutral by 2050, while 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 2026 to reflect changes made to our decarbonisation roadmap and to consider new developments in climate change reporting regulations. We are developing our climate transition action plan, which will be completed in 2026.
Supporting the Taskforce on Nature-related Financial Disclosures (TNFD) will enable us to better identify and manage nature-related risks. In 2025, we assessed TNFD requirements and conducted a review of our existing TCFD to confirm alignment on both disclosure frameworks. We plan to initiate implementation through a biodiversity footprint assessment as a foundational step.
Exxaro was the main sponsor at the South African Climate Summit, and contributed to the development of South Africa’s position at the UN Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP30). The South African Climate Summit focuses on accelerating the country’s just energy transition and meeting the COP30 goals.
We are a signatory to the UNGC Active level and support the 10 universal sustainability principles.
Exxaro has participated in the Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP) climate change and water programmes since 2008 and 2010 respectively.
Our executive remuneration includes material ESG targets for water and energy efficiency. Our group STI and long‑term incentive (LTI) schemes incentivise delivery against key financial, operational and ESG goals aligned to approved annual business plans.	Targets and performance Remuneration

Contributing to the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

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