WWW.RESOURCEGLOBALNETWORK.COM
A disclosure service that will help your m
MINING | DIGBEE
BEE
mining company gain full ESG credibility
During the last 20 years, the mining industry has undergone a fundamental transition towards the sustainable development of natural resources, tackling its negative perception among key stakeholders, from employees to local communities and investors. However, the sector continues to battle its long-held reputation as a destructive force in nature and within communities in close proximity to mine sites. Recent high profile catastrophes have gone a long way to masking the extensive positive changes instituted by actors from across the mining spectrum falling in line with the now dominant Environmental, Social, Governance (ESG) thematic. Left unchecked, the enduring smears on the name of the mining industry could result in a shutting out of what Digbee’s Jamie Strauss calls ‘a fundamental paradigm shift in investment process and beliefs’. This paradigm shift is predicated on the ‘tidal wave of money’ moving into the world of sustainability. In an address to the Mines and Money London audience in December 2021, Strauss referred to the US$275 billion worth of ESG bonds invested by Western European fund managers, resembling 63% of all the region’s bond flows in the year to date. This exponential growth in ESG bond flows was replicated across emerging markets and in the US, as well as in the equities space, where one in eight funds are ESG and there are now three times more funds under management in ESG than there were in January 2020.
Dismissing the idea of these inflows being merely a fad, Strauss tells RGN: “This is not a tide that goes in and goes out. These are being baked into structures and standards within professional fund management that recognise millennials and society pushing governments and the investing community.” Using the Digbee platform he created in 2016, Strauss aims to ensure the mining sector leverages the full power of the sustainabilitydriven investment paradigm shift, so it can fulfil its role as a key enabler in the global clean energy transition.
Ahead of the curve Strauss comes from a mining finance background spanning 35 years in the city of London on the side of investment banks and around half a dozen mining corporates, within which he has fulfilled roles as an independent director. world’s largest active mining In the mid-teens (2015-16),
fund at BlackRock and Mike
Strauss began thinking about a
Barton at Orion Resource
platform structure to mitigate
Partners – to come up with an
risk and improve output for
ESG disclosure solution for the
the mining industry. By 2020,
sector, with the ambition being
he was being encouraged by
to improve credibility and
leaders within the mining
better balance the narrative on
capital markets space – such
how the sector relates to wider
as Evy Hambro, head of the
society.
MINING | DIGBEE
“The initiation came from
From these key principles,
centre of its offering to the
leading stakeholders in
Strauss and his embryonic
market.
the industry who wanted
team began developing an
to see standardisation and
ESG evaluation platform for
Digbee ESG
mining companies across
the mining sector. Today,
Strauss declares that the
the spectrum embracing ESG
the London-based company
all-encompassing platform,
while being able to easily
provides thousands of quality
launched in January 2021,
disclose their credentials and
data points for all industry
addresses the confusion
therefore be rewarded by it,”
stakeholders, with the Digbee
mining corporates feel when
Strauss explains.
ESG disclosure platform at the
trying to disclose their ESG
“This wave of sustainabilitylinked investment is not a tide that goes in and goes out. These are being baked into structures and standards within professional fund management” Jamie Strauss, Digbee founder, CEO and chairman
credentials, while addressing
a new ESG standard, but an
the wider lack of credibility
alignment to over 30 existing
in mining with regards to
global initiatives and reporting
sustainability. It also addresses
frameworks from the likes of
the means for all stakeholders
ICMM, IFC, SASB, GRI, the
to analyse and plausibly
World Gold Council and more.
track ESG performances and provides an opportunity for
“In terms of a flow chart as
users to communicate their
to how the service works,
current successes and future
Digbee encourages any mining
targets to their stakeholders.
company to register onto the Digbee platform for free.
Digbee’s founder and CEO
They then get access to the
emphasises that this is not
right-sized and future-looking
MINING | DIGBEE
frameworks for exploration,
board of directors. This has the
relevance to the projects.
development and production
effect of raising responsibility
The result is a corporate-paid
depending on where they sit in
to the senior leadership level
Digbee ESG report, which
the project cycle.”
as required under the Paris
provides a comprehensive
Accord and now expected
narrative and score feedback,
At this stage, companies
under Corporate Governance
giving management and
can get access to any of the
Principles.
boards the ability to remediate
frameworks for free, which
threats yet promote positive
provide a blueprint for
The submission, along with
aspects of the project/
disclosing ESG in a uniform
the evidence and narrative
company.
way. Before submitting their
supporting the answers, are
assessment for an independent then assessed by a team of
The strengths and weaknesses
review, it must be signed off by
independent ESG experts who
highlighted in the report will
an appointed person from the
are selected based on their
inform the main avenues of
discussion in a debrief session
remediation over the next 12
satisfaction during the
between the independent
months or longer. Equally,
first 12 months of the ESG
assessors and senior
they can promote the positive
disclosure being in operation,
representatives from the
findings in an effort to improve
according to Strauss, with
mining company. Following
the narrative within the sector.
most participants admitting
the debrief, the core scores
This is a journey. It’s neither
they didn’t score as highly as
and narrative will be published
an audit nor a pass/fail test,”
they hoped but were already
onto Digbee’s platform,
Strauss stresses.
putting plans in place to
although scores can be hidden
improve their score ahead of
by the company in the first 12
He goes on to say: “The sector
another assessment in a years’
months to encourage the all-
has been in a constant state
time.
important ‘direction of travel’
of improvement over the past
which is required by fund
two decades and yet it has
Digbee has also been looking
managers and others.
failed to communicate this
at ways of improving its
effectively, there is much that
product offering, particularly
Digbee will then provide
still needs to be done but a
in terms of being able to
the company with a
more balanced narrative is
provide a uniform ESG
communication package
a critically important step
disclosure service across the
incorporating a shareable
forward.
entire mining ecosystem.
ESG accredited certificate
Royalty companies, for
that can even be included in
“This platform essentially
instance, have struggled
blockchain technology as and
allows users to take action
to disclose a credible and
when it is rolled out across the
where necessary and have a
comprehensive ESG footprint
industry to prove provenance
means to communicate their
that covers the assets that
of underlying ore in the move
journey to all stakeholders and
make up their income and
to responsible sourcing.
engage with them, whether
valuation.
Starting an ESG journey “Once they’ve received an
they be local people, NGOs, governments or capital
Looking to solve this royalty
providers who they might want
conundrum, Digbee is working
to highlight their work to.”
closely with the sector to
independent assessment
conclude a solution and to
and certificate, the company
Every single client has
ensure royalty companies
can take action on areas of
reported high levels of
can present themselves as
MINING | DIGBEE
sustainable partners to mine
The end of last year saw gold
development.
mining giant Newmont hit
Harnessing sustainabilitylinked bonds
the headlines with the sale of $1 billion of sustainabilitylinked bonds. The financing will give it a fiscal incentive
Digbee is also working with
to cut emissions and improve
a number of banks in order
corporate governance, in a
to understand exactly what
milestone transaction for the
will be required in order for
global mining sector.
the mining industry to unlock the huge potential from the
Prior to Newmont’s financing,
burgeoning sustainability-
the industry had only
linked bonds space.
raised $4 billion in green or labelled bonds. This pales in
“This platform essentially allows users to take action where necessary and have a means to communicate their journey to all stakeholders and engage with them, whether they be local people, NGOs, governments or capital providers who they might want to highlight their work to”
comparison to the $1 trillion
whole. We need to be able to
want to have an electric fleet
worth of green/sustainability-
get the mining industry full
or to economically regenerate
linked bonds issued around
access to the green bond or
closed/distressed mine sites,
the world in 2021 alone.
labelled bond market.”
like Bunker Hill Mining did. There’s no reason why the
“The mining industry is
He refers to the myriad
industry can’t leverage these
critical to the world’s transition
green projects happening
developments to gain access to
to a sustainable future,”
within mining projects. “A
lower cost ‘green’ debt.”
Strauss says. “It’s also making
company might want to build
a deep effort to become more
a renewable energy project
Digbee’s independent
sustainable and is focusing
within its property to supply
assessment and the forward-
on communicating that more
the mine and its community
looking structure of questions
effectively to society as a
with clean energy. Or it might
in Digbee’s disclosure service
MINING | DIGBEE
could play a crucial role
discussions around the
topics in order to fully plan for
in compelling creditors
broader ESG spectrum, after
a sustainable future.”
to provide green bonds to
somewhat of an over-focus on
corporate players using the
reducing carbon emissions in
Another emerging trend
ESG platform. Watch this
recent years.
centres on the quality of
space.
the underlying data in ESG “That’s not to say global
reporting. This is important
warming won’t remain a
because a lot of data delivered
As a prominent player in the
primary focus, but ESG
to ESG or sustainability funds
mining ESG space, Strauss is
covers 35 different topics
is still derived from generic,
Key trends
well positioned to comment on and management from
backward-looking assessment
the key trends that will develop participating firms would
metrics, according to Strauss.
during the course of 2022. The CEO foresees increasing
need to disclose on all of those
MINING | DIGBEE
“The focus now is very much
“Independent assessment
on quality of data so that funds
allows for a context-driven
can begin to differentiate
approach to develop around
between themselves, and
a particular project and
so that credible ESG can be
corporate structure, with
tracked and therefore improve
feedback provided in terms
the performance of that fund
of a gap analysis on a year-by-
through those underlying asset
year basis.
owners. “That will allow credibility and “Digbee fits nicely within those
confidence to gain and trust
two because it does cover
to be gathered which will then
the whole ESG spectrum, is
allow new pools of capital to
future-looking, it addresses
come into the mining sector,
greenwash and is nuanced
but also for society – which
with regards to the mining
needs mining already – to
space, operating on a context-
more transparently engage and
driven, mine-by-mine basis.”
ultimately raise its confidence
A solution to the credibility issue
in the sector. “We’re always going to be
The mining industry has
digging holes in the ground,
demonstrated in the last two
but what we can do is explain
decades that it is no stranger
and communicate the good
to operating sustainably. The
things we are doing, to adapt
problem herein lies with
our operations to become
its damaged reputation and
more sustainable and improve
continuing lack of recognition
our credibility through earning
for positive accomplishments
trust,” Strauss concludes.
amongst civil society and in the investment world. Digbee provides a solution to this credibility issue with its independent ESG disclosure service.
aj
Published by Anderson Murray Media Ltd
To tell the resource market your story, contact: editorial@resourceglobalnetwork.com
WWW.RESOURCEGLOBALNETWORK.COM