Glencore

Stakeholder engagement
The company’s stakeholder engagement covers nature, including biodiversity, and social issues.

Lobbying
The company discloses a clear and detailed framework for assessing alignment of its trade associations with nature-positive policies, including the Paris Agreement. The company also discloses an annual review of all the advocacy activities it has undertaken, with a regional breakdown.

GHG emissions
Glencore has a time-bound target to reduce greenhouse gas emissions across all scopes, which includes the reduction of its total emissions by 15% by 2025 and by 50% by 2050 compared to a 2019 baseline. The company’s long-term, time-bound targets are aligned with a 1.5-degree trajectory.

Indigenous Peoples’ and land rights
The company is committed to respecting Indigenous Peoples’ rights.

Sustainability strategy and accountability
Glencore discloses its materiality assessment identifying and prioritising its most relevant sustainability impacts as well as the outcome of this process, in relation to its sustainability strategy. While the company has time-bound climate change targets, it does not disclose group-wide targets on key sustainability topics for the most material parts of its value chain. The company reports consistently against all its targets. Glencore discloses that 30% of its variable compensation is linked to health and safety targets, no evidence was found that the company links performance criteria in senior executives’ remuneration policies to targets and objectives which cover nature, including biodiversity, and social issues. The company provides information regarding its highest governance body’s experience but does not disclose whether its highest governance body has expertise regarding nature-related topics.

Stakeholder engagement
The company discloses an overview of the issues raised during its stakeholder engagement activities but does not disclose its process for engaging with stakeholder groups beyond its materiality assessment.

Lobbying
The company discloses a list of trade associations of which it is a member wherever it operates. While it also discloses there have been misalignments between the lobbying activities of its trade associations and its own policies around nature-positive policies, no information regarding the reasons for the misalignments were reported.

Impact and dependencies assessment
The company has not holistically assessed its impacts or how it depends on nature, including biodiversity. It has an opportunity to start such an assessment across its value chains, focused on quantification of its impacts or dependencies.

Key areas and species
The company discloses the locations that are in or adjacent to areas important for biodiversity within its own operations. However, it does not disclose the locations of its suppliers that are in or adjacent to areas important for biodiversity. The company does not disclose species populations existing in or adjacent to its own locations or those of its suppliers. Nor does it disclose the status according to national and international conservation lists of species identified in its own locations.

Ecosystem conversion and restoration
No evidence was found regarding the company’s efforts to avoid ecosystem conversion, including deforestation, or promote restoration. Glencore has an opportunity to develop a strategy and publicly report on specific, time-bound targets. The company is not committed to restoring ecosystems, although it discloses details and outcomes of ecosystem restoration projects in areas affected by its own operations or its suppliers.

Resource exploitation and circularity
No evidence was found regarding the company’s efforts to work towards a circular economy or which organisms it exploits. It has an opportunity to develop a strategy and publicly report on specific, time-bound targets. The company does not disclose efforts to improve soil health.

Water
Glencore demonstrates it is reducing water withdrawal in its own operations. However, it does not disclose a time-bound target to reduce water withdrawal across its own operations. The company reports how much water is withdrawn for its own operations in water-stressed areas but does not engage with suppliers to reduce water withdrawal. The company does not report a decrease in water pollution, nor does it disclose its processes for managing and monitoring discharge water quality. Additionally, the company does not regularly report on water pollution or disclose targets to reduce water pollution. While the company recognises access to safe and clean water as a salient right, it does not disclose a commitment to respect the right to water. Finally, it does not disclose its processes for implementing preventive and corrective action plans for identified specific risks to the right to water and sanitation in its own operations.

Solid and air pollution
The company is reducing the production of hazardous waste, including mineral waste such as tailings and sludges. However, it is not reducing plastic use and waste in its own operations. It does not report on the amount of plastic waste generated and proportions directed from or to disposal, nor on air quality parameters of emissions of harmful air pollutants. Moreover, it does not report time-bound targets to reduce air pollutants across the most material parts of its value chain.

GHG emissions
Glencore’s scope 1 and 2 greenhouse gas emissions have increased in the past reporting cycle. The company has a time-bound target to reduce its scope 1 and 2 emissions, which includes the reduction of its total emissions by 15% by 2025 and by 50% by 2050 compared to a 2019 baseline. However, the company does not report progress against this target. The company is reducing its scope 3 emissions. It has an associated time-bound reduction target and reports progress against it.

Invasive species
The company has not identified any activities that could lead to the introduction of IAS in its own operations.

Safe, clean, healthy and sustainable environment
The company does not show if it is committed to respecting local communities’ right to a safe, clean, healthy and sustainable environment or to zero tolerance for acts of violence, threats, intimidation or judicial harassment committed against land and environmental rights defenders.

Indigenous Peoples’ and land rights
The company does not disclose its processes for identifying and recognising the rights of Indigenous Peoples when activities in its own operations may impact their rights, nor does it describe how it obtains Indigenous Peoples’ free, prior and informed consent. The company does not disclose a commitment to respect ownership and use of land and natural resources and related legitimate tenure rights, as set out in the relevant part(s) of the VGGTs or the IFC Performance Standards. Additionally, the company does not require its business relationships to have a process to identify legitimate tenure rightsholders, paying particular attention to vulnerable or marginalised tenure rightsholders, and to negotiate with them to provide adequate compensation.

The company describes the process for identifying its human rights risks and impacts in specific locations or activities covering its own operations and its business relationships. The company also describes its process(es) for assessing its human rights risks and discloses what it considers to be its salient human rights issues. However, no evidence was found that it has a global system in place to act on, prevent or mitigate its salient human rights issues. The company provides a case study describing how it has acted on a salient human rights risk issue. The company discloses categories of stakeholders whose human rights have been or may be affected by its activities and with which it has engaged.

The company has a publicly available policy statement committing it to respect the health and safety of its own workers and expecting its suppliers to do the same. The company has an opportunity to disclose a time-bound target for paying all workers a living wage or that it has achieved paying all workers a living wage. The company also has an opportunity to describe how it determines a living wage for the regions where it operates. The company discloses that 71% of its total direct operations workforce is covered by collective bargaining agreements. While the company states that it encourages its suppliers to respect employees’ right to freedom of association and the right to collective bargaining, it has an opportunity to describe how it works to support the practices of its suppliers in this regard.

The company discloses a global tax strategy. It takes steps to identify and address bribery and corruption. It also includes anti-bribery and anti-corruption clauses in its contracts with direct business relationships, among them suspension and discontinuation of relationships. In a public policy statement, the company discloses its approach to lobbying and political engagement. The company specifies that it does not make political contributions.