As a vital aspect of environmental, social and governance (ESG) risk, water management will undoubtedly feature on the agenda at the African Mining Indaba in Cape Town; SRK Consulting has highlighted that the mining sector will increasingly need to report its water-related performance in terms of credible global standards. According to SRK Consulting principal consultant Fiona Sutton, one of the company’s delegates at the Indaba, water stewardship is coming to the fore in ESG reporting - with ESG itself also still evolving a consistent framework that is broadly recognised by the investment community.
“In the most recent EY Global Institutional Investor Survey, for instance, it is argued that the reporting of ESG performance needs to be measured against a set of globally consistent standards – which could become a mandatory requirement,” said Sutton. “With water management ranked by EY as the number one ESG risk in mining, and with ESG itself being the top risk for the second year running, there is some urgency for mining companies to assess water risk in terms of a credible framework.”
he pointed out that water stewardship and biodiversity (the latter ranked eighth in EY’s 2023 risks) were fast becoming urgent priorities. Factors putting pressure on water resources included population growth, shifts toward more meat-based diets, climate change and other challenges. The world’s water is increasingly becoming degraded in quality, she explained, increasing the cost of treatment, and also threatening human and ecosystem health. Furthermore, the physical availability of freshwater resources does not guarantee that a safe, affordable water supply is available to all.
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