Sibanye Stillwater

Stakeholder engagement 
Sibanye-Stillwater discloses how often and through which channels it engages with various stakeholder groups as well as the issues raised during its stakeholder engagement. Its stakeholder engagement covers nature, including biodiversity, and social issues. Furthermore, the company is one of the few to demonstrate how its stakeholder engagement activities impact its sustainability strategy.

Impact and dependencies assessment 
Sibanye-Stillwater discloses information on biodiversity assessments as well as the methodologies and frameworks that guide the assessments. Most notably, the company uses the Biological Diversity Protocol, a reporting framework for biodiversity data which it helped draft. However, the company’s assessment does not cover 100% of its own operations. The company shows best practice by assessing its impacts on nature in the downstream activities of its value chain.  It also assesses whether its impacts on nature, including biodiversity, contribute to a cumulative effect, with other stakeholders, in the locations within its own operations.

Key areas and species 
Sibanye- Stillwater discloses the status according to national and international conservation lists of species identified in its own locations. In addition, the company has a management plan for locations within its own operations adjacent to areas important for biodiversity, and it discloses the percentage of land, fresh water and sea use in such locations.

Resource exploitation and circularity 
The company discloses its inputs, including information on its material footprint.

Water 
Sibanye- Stillwater engages with suppliers to reduce water withdrawal and has a commitment to respect the right to water. Furthermore, the company discloses 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 
Sibanye-Stillwater 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 also reports some activities to reduce plastic use and waste in its own operations.

Invasive species
Sibanye- Stillwater discloses any introduction of invasive alien species (IAS) resulting from its own operations or value chain. The company discloses its processes for preventing the introduction of IAS or managing IAS that have been introduced as a result of its own operations.

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

Sustainability strategy and accountability 
While Sibanye- Stillwater discloses a materiality assessment, it has an opportunity to disclose group-wide targets on key sustainability topics for the most material parts of its value chain according to the  SBTN Sectoral Materiality Tool. Moreover, while the company links its long-term incentives to environmental, social and governance (ESG) targets such as climate and water, no evidence was found that it links performance criteria in senior executives’ remuneration policies to time-bound measurable targets on social issues beyond safety. The company does not disclose whether its highest governance body has expertise regarding nature-related topics.

Stakeholder engagement 
While Sibanye-Stillwater discloses its Umdoni Tree, which is symbolic of the company’s ESG practices, it has an opportunity to disclose a clear process for how it identifies relevant stakeholders.

Lobbying 
While the company discloses some memberships of industry associations, it should provide a full list for review. Additionally, the company has an opportunity to disclose a clear and detailed framework for assessing alignment of its trade associations with nature-positive policies and report (potential) misalignment between the lobbying activities of its trade associations and nature-positive policies.

Impact and dependencies assessment 
Sibanye-Stillwater does not disclose any assessment of its impacts on nature, including biodiversity, in its supply chain. The company also has an opportunity to disclose an assessment of its dependencies on nature within its own operations and of its upstream business relationships.

Key areas and species 
While Sibanye-Stillwater states that a full list of species of interest, according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) and South African National Biodiversity Institute (SANBI) Red List data, has been categorised as per their status, no further evidence was found in the public domain. Although Sibanye-Stillwater discloses some species existing in or adjacent to its own locations, it does not disclose all of them. Furthermore, the company does not disclose the locations of its suppliers that are in or adjacent to areas important for biodiversity, nor does it disclose species populations existing in or adjacent to the locations of its suppliers.

Ecosystem conversion and restoration 
Sibanye-Stillwater does not have a commitment to ensure zero conversion. While the company reports some activities, it has an opportunity to disclose a commitment to minimise ecosystem conversion. At the same time, the company is committed to restoring ecosystems and discloses details and outcomes of ecosystem restoration projects in areas affected by its own operations.

Resource exploitation and circularity 
Sibanye-Stillwater does not report quantitatively on its group-wide circularity performance. The company discloses activities to improve soil health or agrobiodiversity in its production or sourcing practices but does not have a target to improve soil health in its production.

Water 
Sibanye-Stillwater demonstrates it is reducing water withdrawal in its own operations. However, while it discloses a business-level target to reduce the reliance of operations on external potable water infrastructure by 10% for water-rich jurisdictions and 40% reliance for water-poor jurisdictions by 2030, there is an opportunity for the company to set a time-bound target to reduce water withdrawal across its own operations and report progress against it. The company reports how much water is withdrawn for its own operations in water-stressed areas. Although the company discloses its processes for managing and monitoring discharge water quality, it does not regularly report on water pollution. It also has an opportunity to disclose targets to reduce water pollution.

Solid and air pollution 
While Sibanye-Stillwater is reducing the production of hazardous waste, it has an opportunity to set targets to reduce its hazardous waste. The company reports regularly on air quality parameters of emissions of harmful air pollutants but does not report time-bound targets to reduce air pollutants.

GHG emissions 
Although Sibanye-Stillwater has a time-bound target to reduce its scope 1 and 2 emissions, it does not report progress against this target. Furthermore, there is an opportunity to set a scope 1 and 2 emissions reduction target aligned with a 1.5-degree trajectory. Additionally, the company could disclose a time-bound target to reduce its scope 3 emissions.

Invasive species 
No evidence was found that Sibanye-Stillwater identifies the activities that could lead to the introduction of invasive alien species (IAS) in its own operations. 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 
Sibanye-Stillwater does not disclose 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 
Sibanye-Stillwater has an opportunity to disclose its processes for identifying and recognising the rights of Indigenous Peoples when activities in its own operations may impact their rights, as well as to describe how it obtains Indigenous Peoples’ free, prior and informed consent. Similarly, the company has an opportunity to 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, as well as 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.

While the company discloses that it conducts due diligence in general, it has an opportunity to specify that it conducts human rights due diligence that includes a process for identifying human rights risks and impacts in its financing activities. There is no evidence that the company describes its process for assessing its human rights risks and discloses what it considers to be its salient human rights issues. While the company discloses that it conducts routine human rights risk assessments and that it remediates in locations with the highest risk, no evidence was found that it has a global system to act on all its salient human rights issues. There is no evidence that the company provides an example of the 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. 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. The company provides one example of engagement with affected communities. It provides another example of engagement with the chemical company BASF, but it is not clear how it engaged with stakeholders whose human rights have been or may be affected by its activities (or their legitimate representatives or multi-stakeholder initiatives) in the last two years.

The company has a publicly available policy statement which shows it is committed to respecting the health and safety of workers. While the company provides a statement expecting its suppliers to commit to respecting the health and safety of their workers, no evidence was found that it is a formal policy, approved and signed off by the highest governance body. The company states that it pays competitive salaries which include significant variable incentives and other benefits. However, it does not disclose if competitive salaries or payment more than the national minimum wage are sufficient to maintain a decent standard of living for employees and their family. Also, it does not disclose a time-bound target for paying all workers a living wage. The company describes its wage negotiations and benefits provided. However, it is not clear how this aligns with a living wage and how the company determines a living wage for the regions where it operates. There is no evidence that the company describes how it works to support the payment of a living wage by its suppliers. While the company discloses the proportion of its total direct operations workforce covered by collective bargaining agreements, it states that monitoring only covers a percentage of the group. There is no evidence that the company describes how it works to support the practices of its suppliers in relation to freedom of association and collective bargaining.

The company discloses a global tax strategy. There is no evidence that the company describes the process for identifying its bribery and corruption risks and impacts in specific locations or activities covering its own operations. There is no evidence that the company includes anti-bribery and anti-corruption clauses in its contracts with business relationships. While the company specifies that it does not make political contributions, there is no evidence that the company has a publicly available policy statement or policy setting out its lobbying and political engagement approach.