Polyus

Stakeholder engagement 
The company discloses how often and through which channels it engages with various stakeholder groups as well as an overview of the issues raised during its stakeholder engagement activities. Its stakeholder engagement covers nature, including biodiversity, and social issues.

Ecosystem conversion and restoration 
The company has a commitment to minimise ecosystem conversion and discloses some activities to this effect. The company is also committed to restoring ecosystems. It discloses details and outcomes of ecosystem restoration projects in areas affected by its own operations and beyond, such as compensation or offset mechanisms.

Solid and air pollution 
The company discloses the proportion of hazardous waste treated to reduce pollution compared to total waste, the hazardous waste diverted from disposal and the waste directed to disposal. The company reports on the proportion of plastic reused as well as the amount of plastic waste generated and proportions directed from or to disposal.

Invasive species 
The company identifies the activities that could lead to the introduction of invasive alien species (IAS) in its own operations, notably through 2020 pilot field studies on biodiversity management metrics at Kuranakh, Кrasnoyarsk and Verninskoye.

Indigenous Peoples’ and land rights
Polyus is committed to respecting Indigenous Peoples’ rights. It discloses its processes for identifying and recognising the rights of Indigenous Peoples when activities in its own operations may impact their rights, and it describes how it obtains Indigenous Peoples’ free, prior and informed consent. The company also has a commitment to respect ownership and use of land and natural resources and related legitimate tenure rights. When acquiring or leasing land or making other arrangements, the company discloses its processes for identifying legitimate tenure rightsholders and negotiating with them to provide adequate compensation.

Sustainability strategy and accountability
While the company discloses some targets, no evidence was found that it has group-wide targets on key sustainability topics for the most material parts of its value chain based on the SBTN Sectoral Materiality Tool. Furthermore, the company has an opportunity to improve disclosure on some of the targets and related performance such as water intensity and carbon intensity reduction. Additionally, even though the vice president’s and senior vice president’s remuneration is linked to environmental, social and governance (ESG) metrics, no further evidence was found that the company links performance criteria to targets which cover nature, including biodiversity, and social issues. The company does not disclose whether its highest governance body has expertise regarding nature-related topics.

Lobbying
Polyus discloses a list of trade associations of which it is a member wherever it operates. However, it does not disclose a clear and detailed framework for assessing alignment of its trade associations with nature-positive policies. Nor does it report (potential) misalignment between the lobbying activities of its trade associations and nature-positive policies.

Impact and dependencies assessment
While the company is piloting the use of some biodiversity-related metrics, no evidence was found that it has conducted impact assessments for all its sites, beyond IUCN Red List species mapping. The company has an opportunity to disclose assessments of its impacts on nature, including biodiversity, in its own operations and supply chain. Furthermore, the company does not disclose any assessment of its dependencies on nature within its own operations nor of its upstream business relationships.

Key areas and species
The company discloses the locations that are in or adjacent to areas important for biodiversity within its own operations but does not disclose such locations for its suppliers. The company has an opportunity to disclose species populations existing in or adjacent to its own locations and to the locations of its suppliers. However, it does disclose the status according to national and international conservation lists of species identified in its own locations.

Ecosystem conversion and restoration
The company does not have a commitment to ensure zero conversion.

Resource exploitation and circularity
No evidence was found regarding Polyus’ 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. While the company discloses activities to improve soil health, it does not have a target to improve soil health.

Water
While Polyus demonstrates it is reducing water withdrawal in its own operations, it has a strong opportunity to disclose a group-wide, time-bound target to reduce water withdrawal across its own operations. Furthermore, the company does not engage with suppliers to reduce water withdrawal. The company reports a decrease in water pollution, and discloses its processes for managing and monitoring discharge water quality, but it does not regularly report on water pollution. Polyus has a significant opportunity to disclose targets to reduce water pollution as well as a commitment to respect the right to water. Additionally, the company 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. While it reports regularly on air quality parameters of emissions of harmful air pollutants, it has an opportunity to set and report on time-bound targets to reduce air pollutants across the most material parts of its value chain.

GHG emissions
While Polyus has a time-bound target to reduce its scope 1 and 2 emissions and reports progress against the target, it has an opportunity to align its target with a 1.5-degree trajectory. Furthermore, it has a strong opportunity to disclose a time-bound scope 3 emissions reduction target aligned with a 1.5-degree trajectory and report progress against it.

Invasive species
No evidence was found that the company identifies the activities that could lead to the introduction of IAS in its value chain.

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 has an opportunity to 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. The company also discloses the process for assessing its salient human rights risks and discloses them. However, it is not clear that this includes its supply chain. No evidence was found that the company has a global system in place to act on, prevent or mitigate its salient human rights issues. The company discloses plans to address human rights risks, but it does not provide an example of the specific conclusions reached and actions taken or to be taken on at least one of its salient human rights issues as a result of assessment processes in at least one of its activities/operations in the last three years. While the company discloses the categories of stakeholders it engages with generally on sustainability issues, it is not clear if these stakeholders are those whose human rights have been or may be affected by its activities. There is no evidence that the company provides examples of its engagement with stakeholders whose human rights have been or may be affected by its activities.

The company has a publicly available policy statement which shows it is committed to respecting the health and safety of workers. It also has a publicly available policy statement which shows it expects its suppliers to commit to respecting the health and safety of their workers. 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 the proportion of its total direct operations workforce covered by collective bargaining agreements. However, there is no evidence that it describes how it works to support the practices of its suppliers in relation to freedom of association and collective bargaining.

The company discloses a statement related to income tax, but there is no evidence that it has a publicly available global tax strategy that is approved by the highest governance body. The company 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. The company outlines its approach to lobbying and political engagement but does not formalise this approach in a public policy document.