1Park City, Utah USA, ejdk2@comcast.net
Environmental, social and governance matters (ESG) cover a wide range of issues, threats, and opportunities for business. In the mining sector a company’s approach and performance in the ESG space (referred to in the past in terms of health, safety and environment, community relations, local economic development, sustainability, corporate social responsibility) has been of interest to a range of civil society stakeholders for decades, and responsible mining companies have sought to understand the issues material to them and operate to high social and environmental standards. In the last several years increasing interest from the investor community, and an associated proliferation of measuring, auditing, disclosure and rating approaches and tools have been developed. This has prompted companies who were not strongly focused on these matters to take note, implement policies, strategies, standards and practices to manage ESG performance and risk, and disclose their performance in these areas. This presentation will describe a hierarchy of strategic and pragmatic actions companies can use to create the culture, policies and practices to effectively manage risks and achieve strong ESG performance.
Biography
Elaine has more than 25 years of leadership experience in creating and implementing sustainable development, safety, health, and environmental strategy and programs in the mining, chemical, and engineering consulting sectors. She is a non-executive director of Kenmare Resources plc, Great Lakes Dredge and Dock, Sibanye Stillwater, and NovaGold, and is on the Board of environmental economics non-profit Resources for the Future. In 2020 she retired from Newmont Mining Corporation as the Executive Vice President of Sustainability and External Relations. Prior to Newmont, she served as managing Director of Richards Bay Minerals in South Africa, and Global Head of Health, Safety and Environment at Rio Tinto. She earned her Ph.D. in Analytical Chemistry from Colorado State University.
