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Anglo American to go carbon neutral by 2040

Anglo American is focussing on transitioning its portfolio to cleaner metals and minerals as part of the company’s sustainability plan.

Anglo American chief executive Mark Cutifani said that the company had set an “ambitious goal” of carbon neutrality across its entire operations by year 2040, with eight of its assets to get there by 2030.

The company will emphasise growing its copper and crop nutrients commodities as it moves thermal coal out of its portfolio, including a potential demerger of its South African thermal coal assets, and increasing renewable energies to power its sites.

Anglo American will use 100 per cent renewable energy at its Chilean operations from 2021 and in Brazil from 2022.

The company will also start trialling a green hydrogen fuel-cell powered haul truck in South Africa during 2021 to reduce its scope one and two emissions.

“Sustainability lives at the very heart of our strategy, not as an adjacent activity, but embedded in how we do our work,” Cutifani said.

“Much of what we are driving for, particularly in terms of our energy and water ambitions will be achieved through the technologies we are implementing – hence the inseparable connection between our technology work and our sustainable mining plan outcomes under our FutureSmart Mining program.

“Bulk ore sorting alone can deliver a 10 per cent reduction in energy and water intensity for an operation.”

Anglo American has also met its sustainability target to reduce emissions by 22 per cent a year early and is considering how it can best tackle scope three emissions.

Majority of Anglo American’s scope three emissions comes from its steel value chain customers, and the company is evaluating ways to better control and influence these emissions through partnerships with its customers.

At the end of this year, Anglo American will update its water baseline data and report it against its 2030 targets from early next year.

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