Risk to business
Climate change poses material physical and financial risks to our business. We must assess and account for these risks in our strategic and operational planning.
Physical risks: Climate change may cause floods and extreme storms, or lead to reduced water supplies, which might restrict mining at our sites in arid areas in South Africa, Australia and northern Chile. Warmer average temperatures could affect our nickel operation in the Canadian Arctic, which relies on permafrost to manage its tailings.
Financial risks: Several countries are planning to introduce regulations that will charge companies for emitting greenhouse gases. This will make it more expensive to run our business. It might also encourage companies to use less coal, which could really hurt us because we are one of the world’s largest coal producers.
There is a complex interplay between these issues and operational risks such as business continuity, health and safety, environmental degradation, as well as non-operational risks such as regulation. We are constantly evaluating and adjusting to circumstances as they arise.
