World Gold Council research has analysed the gold sector’s carbon footprint and the opportunities for the industry to contribute to climate change mitigation, with an emphasis on the progress being made by gold mining companies as they transition to a low carbon future. Whilst the COVID-19 pandemic and its economic consequences are currently all-consuming, attention must not be diverted from ESG performance and commitments to tackle the climate crisis. Any further delays in implementing change will be damaging and costly, suggests the World Gold Council's John Mulligan.
As we struggle to see past the trauma and damage of the Coronavirus crisis and consider the path to medical, social and economic recovery, we also need to prepare for a future in which major disruptive and destructive events will likely become more frequent and severe unless we act immediately and at scale. Emerging from the pandemic, we must remain mindful that there is no more pressing challenge facing humanity than that of climate change. This has clearly been on the mind of UN Secretary General António Guterres who recently commented that, despite the coronavirus, the world must not forget the “deeper environmental emergency” facing the planet.1