NYSE-listed Barrick Gold has been listed in the Dow Jones Sustainability Index’s (DJSI's) World Index for the fourteenth consecutive year, ranking in the ninty-fifth percentile for mining and metals.
It also demonstrated an industry leading performance by scoring full marks, or 100th percentile, in the categories of environmental reporting, social reporting, materiality and water risk management.
The gold miner ranked within the top 5% for environmental policy and management systems, biodiversity, mineral waste management, closure and social impact on communities, while substantially improving its scores in occupational health and safety, human capital development and climate strategy.
Barrick’s continued inclusion in the DJSI is a tribute to the company's strong commitment to sustainability and the integration of environmental, social and governance (ESG) throughout the business, says president and CE Mark Bristow.
“The increase in our climate strategy ranking, off the back of our updated climate strategy and greenhouse-gas emissions reduction roadmap, while leading scores in the categories of community development and biodiversity, underscore our belief that our ability to operate successfully is dependent on delivering long-term value for all our stakeholders and proactively managing our impacts on the wider environment,” he states.
“Barrick’s philosophy of sharing the benefits its operations create is applied at a local level through the establishment of fully functional community development committees at each of our sites. In these forums, community leaders and management engage productively to identify appropriate upliftment projects for investment, and then oversee their development.
“This is partnership in action, at ground level, and it is doing much to strengthen our relationships with our host communities and countries,” he notes.
The DJSI World Index represents the top 10% of leaders in ESG performance through the corporate sustainability assessment (CSA) of the largest 2 500 companies in the S&P Global Broad Market Index.
The DJSI is the longest-running sustainability benchmark worldwide and has become a key reference point for sustainability investment, Barrick says.
However, despite Barrick’s sustained and improved performance in most of the DJSI categories, there was more work to be done. It remained a key focus for the group to further enhance its ESG credentials, Bristow says.