Austmine’s new training course is helping METS companies turn the challenges associated with decarbonisation into a competitive edge.
As international economic policies increasingly shift in favour of responsible environmental, social and governance (ESG) business practices, there is an ever-greater demand for transparent and sustainable business practices in the mining industry.
These ESG policies drive a multitude of factors that affect the bottom line, including investor sentiment and customer appetite. In other words, decarbonisation is key to satisfying stakeholder expectations.
But mining operations are complex amalgamations of different stakeholders, suppliers, manufacturers, offtake partners, and more.
A company’s emissions reduction performance is thus not only beholden to its own Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions, but also the Scope 3 emissions generated by its partners along the supply chain.
And just as modern consumers demand sustainability up and down the value chain, mining companies demand demonstrable decarbonisation practices from the businesses with which they partner.
“Demonstrating how your company is managing, and indeed reducing, your carbon emissions will soon be a necessary part of every quote, business proposal and procurement contract,” Austmine director of strategic development Marianne Cummings told Australian Mining.
“The recent climate-related financial disclosure bill introduced to parliament requires miners and other large entities to disclose for the first time their Scope 3 emissions data.”
The landmark bill seeks to amend the Australian Securities and Investment Commission Act 2001 and the Corporations Act 2001 to introduce mandatory requirements for large businesses and financial institutions to disclose their climate-related risks and opportunities.
“They will be seeking this data from their upstream and downstream suppliers,” Cummings said.
This represents a significant development for industry, one that larger companies are better positioned to face, given they often have in-house ESG teams. But for small-to-medium enterprises with tighter resources, it can be difficult to know where to start.
This is the conundrum that Austmine’s ‘Getting started with decarbonisation’ course was developed to solve.
This training course was designed specifically to help mining equipment, technology and services (METS) companies navigate complexities of decarbonisation in the mining industry.
“This recorded workshop series will equip METS businesses with the decarbonisation knowledge, strategies and tools needed to gain a competitive advantage in the METS sector,” Cummings said.
“There is so much information out there about decarbonisation, but this course cuts through all that excess and is tailored specifically to the mining industry.”
During three one-hour recorded workshops, participants will gain knowledge, practical tools and strategies necessary to navigate the intricacies of decarbonisation, adopt more sustainable practices, and effectively meet the growing requirements of customers, while ensuring their business is adopting best practice ESG principles.
“The first workshop covers the ins and outs of decarbonisation: what does it all mean? How does it affect you? What do you what do you need to do to reduce carbon emissions?” Cummings said.
“The second workshop shows participants how to calculate their carbon footprint.
“The third workshop equips participants with a decarbonisation toolkit to help them to collect necessary data and demonstrate alignment with mining companies’ decarbonisation goals. This decarbonisation toolkit helps businesses to outline their own commitments to sustainability and decarbonisation that can be used in practice.”
The course was developed with the input of mining companies and industry stakeholders such as BHP, Harmony Gold, and various Austmine members.
Each workshop session builds on the last to give participants a better understanding of the world of decarbonisation, enabling them to hear directly from miners about their practical expectations.
“At its core, this course is designed to be practical,” Cummings said.
“We wanted to get the miners involved so that businesses could hear directly from the horse’s mouth exactly what their decarbonisation expectations are and how to implement them.
“The lessons are designed to deliver actionable takeaways that can be implemented immediately.”
Expert presenters include BHP global mining and services vice president of procurement Mark Pickett, Harmony Gold senior executive for sustainable development Melanie Naidoo-Vermaak, 100% Renewables co-chief executive officer Barbara Albert, and more.
In light of the impending changes to the law and the time-sensitive nature of decarbonisation, Austmine is offering ‘Getting started with decarbonisation’ at a discounted price until the end of the financial year.
“Now is the time to begin your decarbonisation journey and understand what this means for your business so you can be ahead of the curve in meeting growing decarbonisation demands,” Cummings said.
This feature appeared in the June 2024 issue of Australian Mining.
