Sustainability Management GRI 2–24
Sustainability management and ESG integration are a major part of Nornickel’s corporate governance system.
By promoting sustainable development practices, the Company adapts to the strategic landscape and changing market environment and contributes to effective risk management, while at the same time fostering a motivating and innovation-driven corporate culture and helping to secure stakeholder engagement positive for the Company.
To make sure sustainability principles are integrated at Nornickel across the board, the Company has adopted over 20 by-lawsThe texts of the documents are available on the Company’s website.. At the strategic level, the Company has approved the Environmental and Climate Change Strategy, and the Social Development Strategy is currently being developed.
The Company relies on a matrix structure to manage its ESG aspects, with responsibility for specific ESG aspects split among all functional units of the Head Office, branches and entities. At the same time, most of the matters are subject to oversight by the Management Board, Board of Directors, and respective Committees.
With this approach in place, ESG aspects can be successfully integrated into by-laws and day-to-day activities of all structural units and ensure development of new competencies that employees need to help Nornickel set corporate best practices in sustainable development.
To coordinate all sustainability-related processes, the Company established a dedicated Sustainable Development Department. It sets out Nornickel’s ambitions and vision in the area of sustainability and monitors the alignment of the Company’s operations with international standards and expectations of external stakeholders. At the senior executive level, this process falls within the remit of Vice President for Investor Relations and Sustainable Development. At the Board of Directors level, it is the Sustainable Development and Climate Change Committee that is responsible for the development of the Company’s ESG practices.
To engage its top executives in sustainability management, the Company increased the share of HSE targets in the annual 2022 team KPIs, bringing their aggregate weight to 50%. The Environmental Project Implementation indicator was selected as a KPI for the Long-Term Incentive Programme for the Group’s Key Employees (total weight of 30%).
Compliance with international standards and best practices in ESG and quality management
To ensure and maintain strong governance practices in ESG, Nornickel regularly analyses experiences that peers rely on to comply with major international and national standards.
The Company’s production assets are subject to regular certification and surveillance audits for compliance with international standards related to quality management, environmental management, labour protection, and information security.
Support of Russian and international sustainability standards and initiatives
We support leading global and national initiatives in sustainable development often pioneering integration of their requirements into our corporate practices.
Assessment of mining assets readiness for IRMA certification
In 2022, Nornickel held an independent assessment to understand the degree to which its mining assets are ready for IRMA certification. The independent assessment was conducted by ENSOR Management Consultants LLC (formerly a branch of Environmental Resources Management, an international consultancy firm), which has many years of track record in assessing and managing environmental and social risks. The assessment perimeter included eight key mines of Norilsk and Kola divisions. Their activities were assessed based on four principles: business integrity, planning for positive legacies, social responsibility, and environmental responsibility.
The assessment showed that in the event of an official certification exercise, the Company would have likely met the requirements of the IRMA Transparency level. In 2023, a roadmap will be developed to put in place corrective actions so as to ensure compliance with the IRMA requirements.
