Climate risk and resilience
At Barrick, we recognize that climate change, including shifts in temperature, precipitation and more frequent severe weather events, affect our operations in a range of possible ways. We have seen impacts from climate change at some of our operations, and we are taking action now.
We also know that climate change impacts and contributes to two other significant challenges facing humanity: biodiversity loss and poverty.
- No country or community is immune from the threat of climate change and the risk and consequences of severe drought, supercharged storms or blistering heat waves will be unevenly felt, with the poorest countries and peoples carrying the heavier load for a problem not of their making.
- Biodiversity loss and climate change are inextricably linked. Climate change drives biodiversity loss, and biodiversity loss accelerates climate change.
Our climate change strategy does not focus solely on the development of emissions reduction targets. Rather, we integrate and consider aspects of biodiversity protection, water management and community resilience in our approach.
Our goals over the short and medium term seek to not only reduce our emissions, but to also develop resilience to the physical impact of climate change to protect our assets and future proof our business. Refer to Chapter Two for further detail on our social development work.
Our climate change governance
TCFD disclosures
Reflecting the importance of climate change as a business and strategic matter, governance over climaterelated risks and opportunities at Barrick is provided by the Board, management and at the site level.
Board
(TCFD Goverance a)
Our Board and its committees are responsible for overseeing the management our most significant risks, including climate-related risks. The ESG & Nominating Committee oversees our policies, programs, and performance relating to sustainability and the environment, including climate change, which is built into Barrick’s formal risk management process. The Audit & Risk Committee assists the Board in overseeing the company’s management of enterprise risks, including climate risk, as well as the implementation of policies and standards for monitoring and mitigating such risks. The Compensation Committee helps ensure that executive compensation is appropriately linked to our sustainability performance. Our Group Sustainability Executive regularly presents and discusses our strategy and approach on climate risk management to the Board.
Management
(TCFD Governance b)
At the management level, our Executive Committee, guided by our Group Sustainability Executive, provides strategic oversight and governance on key decisions related to Barrick’s climate change strategy, including the setting of our GHG emissions reduction targets. Sustainability issues, including climate change, are a core reporting line on weekly Executive Committee calls and are also agenda items at monthly management and quarterly E&S Committee meetings. Our Group Sustainability Executive is responsible for the development and implementation of our climate strategy, with support provided by other members of the management team as part of their day-to-day responsibilities. Climate change aspects are integrated into performance-related compensation for executives and senior leaders through our Sustainability Scorecard. In 2021, performance against the Sustainability Scorecard, including on our GHG emissions reductions targets, accounted for 25% of long-term incentive compensation for those senior leaders as part of the Barrick Partnership Plan.
Site
In line with our philosophy of decision-making being driven by the operational sites, Barrick identified Climate Change Champions at each site during 2021. The Climate Change Champions are responsible for driving energy and GHG emissions reduction programs at a site level, including sensitizing staff to the importance of energy efficiency, climate change and operational excellence, as well as providing guidance on tracking/reporting energy- and climate-related data and helping to identify further emissions reduction opportunities and projects.
Championing the Cause – Identified and Realized Opportunities
Addressing climate change is everyone’s business, and working to keep global temperature increases to below two degrees Celsius requires collaboration by a number of actors, including governments and companies.
The same is true at Barrick. The work of reducing our emissions, building a robust business and ensuring the resilience of our host communities is not the sole responsibility of our environmental team, but requires cooperation and input from every part of our business. That is why, during 2020 and 2021, we identified interested team members at each site to become Climate Champions. The role of a Climate Champion is to work across the business to drive the identification of climate-related opportunities.
From the assay to accounting, our Climate Champions are drawn from every facet of the business, and no idea is too big or too small to consider.
Some of the opportunities identified by our Climate Champions in 2021 include:
- Replacing light bulbs in our offices with more energy efficient LED bulbs;
- Switch off lights campaigns;
- Electric vehicle commuter program; and
- Energy and heat recovery analysis at process plants and water conveyance infrastructure.
At the group level, we have identified a number of opportunities to reduce GHG emissions, derisk our business and save costs. These include increasing our use of technology, renewable energy sources as well as other sources of clean energy.
Our progress towards identifying and realizing some of these opportunities, including how they contribute to the achievement of our target, is detailed in our GHG emissions reduction roadmap.
Lighting a path to GHG emissions reduction
At the Loulo-Gounkoto complex in Mali, we are in discussion with a South African company, Energy LED, to assess the potential impact of switching the operation’s lighting to LED bulbs. The Loulo-Gounkoto complex is not connected to the Malian national grid and relies on a combination of heavy fuel oil, diesel burning generators and an onsite solar farm to meet its electricity needs. Energy efficiency is a cornerstone of the complex’s GHG emissions reduction strategy.
Our initial assessment indicates that switching to more energy efficient LED bulbs could reduce Loulo-Gounkoto’s GHG emissions by as much as 1,000 tonnes CO2e per year and more than 37,000 tonnes CO2e over the life of mine, and deliver savings of more than $6 million.
Strategy
(TCFD Strategy a & b)
At Barrick, it is important that green technology is made available to developing countries. Tongon, Côte d’Ivoire, has provided solar panels to nearby schools.
We know that addressing and reducing the impacts of climate change is not a one-off effort, but requires continuous work both individually and as an industry. We work to constantly review and update our climate strategy. The key objectives of our climate strategy are:
- Identify, understand and mitigate the risks associated with climate change by building climate change resilience to limit exposure to increasing regulation, scrutiny and physical climate risks;
- Maintain an updated GHG emissions baseline and reduction target according to our baseline and reduction target recalculation policy;
- Continuously improve our disclosure on climate change to provide the market with annual Climate Change Strategy disclosures that incorporate scenario analysis and are aligned with the TCFD framework;
- Switch to cleaner energy sources and increase the proportion of renewable energy in the company’s energy mix;
- Shift responsibility for our progress to our GHG emissions reduction target to an individual site level and introduce climate champions at every site; and
- Work with our communities to build resilience and ensure they are not left behind.
We are also lead members of the ICMM Climate Working Group and helped drive that organization’s updated climate position statement.
Scenario analyses
(TCFD Strategy c)
During 2021, we continued to rollout scenario analysis of the potential impacts of climate change across each of our operations. The scenarios assessed are:
- Stated policies scenario (2°C – 3°C increase);
- Sustainable development scenario (well below 2°C increase); and
- Net Zero emissions by 2050 (1.5°C increase).
Both the ‘Stated policies’ and ‘Sustainable development’ scenarios are analyzed and aligned with the International Energy Agency’s World Economic Outlook (IEA WEO) and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Fifth Assessment Report (AR5). The Net Zero scenario is analyzed in line with the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCC) Marrakesh Partnerships Climate Action Pathway for Industry and the Institutional Investor Group’s Framework for Net-Zero Investment. High level findings from our scenario analysis work are provided on page 110. By developing our understanding of potential future scenarios, we are able to take informed action and become more resilient to the potential effects of climate change across this spectrum.
Risk management
(TCFD Risk management a & b)
Climate change related factors are incorporated into our formal risk assessment process. For example, when assessing site weather-related risks, we also consider availability and access to water and the impact of increased precipitation, drought and severe storms on operations, as well as on communities near our operations. Through this process, we have identified several climate-related risks and opportunities for our business: physical impacts of climate change, such as an increase in extended duration extreme precipitation events; an increase in regulations that seek to address climate change; and an increase in global investment in innovation and low carbon technologies.
A moving target
(TCFD Metrics and targets a&c)
In 2020, when we set our first post-Randgold merger GHG emissions reduction target, we followed a robust process that considered climate science, our current asset base and expansion plans, current and realized opportunities for reduction, and available technology. The methodology assumed we will at least maintain a steady state production profile and did not rely on the closure of mines to deliver reductions.
Nor did it rely on efforts by our host governments to transition national grids or provide pathways for cleaner energy. Instead, it was based on what we as a company were doing and could do to reduce our emissions going forward. The process also drew on industry practices and market expected standards, such as the Science Based Targets Initiative (SBTi) methodology.
When reviewing and applying these to our operations, we identified limitations, particularly with regards to the SBTi methodology. These were:
- Firstly, the SBTi does not provide an industry specific methodology for mining overall, nor for gold mining. This means that regardless of size, nature or carbon intensity of a business, all mining companies come out with a very similar result.
- Secondly, the SBTi does not consider jurisdictional or geographic challenges, such as a ‘carbon budget’ for developing countries. Without such considerations, we believe developing countries will be left further behind.
So, while we recognize the importance of SBTi and its role in helping deliver robust targets for companies and providing a standard that stakeholders recognize, we believe that the current methodology for mining, and more specifically gold mining, is not robust enough, and we have not formally lodged our targets with the SBTi.
We continue to monitor and engage with the SBTi through our memberships. We are also working in partnership with ICMM and the WGC to help develop a more robust methodology for the gold industry. In line with our holistic and integrated sustainability approach, we are working to ensure that methodology also discusses and considers the need to provide a just transition.
A focused and prioritized approach
(TCFD Risk management c & Metrics and tar gets a&c)
Our approach to reducing our emissions is to continuously identify and realize opportunities. As we do this, and as new technology comes online, we consider:
- the impact to the business and our carbon footprint; and
- if it could be expanded or rolled out elsewhere in the group.
Based on these analyses, we will continually review and update our GHG reduction target.
Our evolving GHG reduction target
This work has also helped us identify priority areas of focus for our reduction strategy for each decade, based on the potential impact on emissions and balanced against cost to the business. This approach ensures we focus our efforts on where the greatest impact will be.
2020-2030
Our focus through to 2030 is to decarbonize our current energy sources. This includes transitioning from coal and heavy fuels to cleaner burning fuels such as natural gas, and integrating renewable energy sources into our grids.
Post-2025
The next opportunity for us lies within the vehicles we use on site. We are investigating opportunities to introduce electric vehicles (EVs) into the fleet and are part of ICMM working groups in this regard. Despite technological advances, a stable and reliable solution is still not available, and our expectation is that these opportunities will only be realized in the latter half of the decade. We expect EVs to be available for underground operations towards the end of the decade, but they are unlikely to be suitable for open pit and surface haulage operations.
Post-2030
We will continue to focus on the integration of renewables into our operations and grids. Where we rely on national grids for electricity, we also plan to engage with host governments regarding their respective green transitions. We will also look into further offset projects for our hard to abate emissions (such as those from explosives or lime use).
We are already working on one project in Zambia which integrates biodiversity and social aspects, and are further considering how nature-based solutions could contribute to carbon credits.
Offsets, however, are not a core part of our climate change strategy. Any offset project we participate in, must also deliver social and/or biodiversity benefits.
Electricity and energy
The bulk of the electricity we consume is produced by thermal generators. It is one of our most significant operational costs and represents a major source of GHG emissions.
By understanding our electricity mix and our carbon emissions, we can recognize the contribution and value of our clean electricity initiatives, such as the conversion of the Quisqueya power plant in the Dominican Republic from heavy fuel oil to natural gas, or the introduction of solar power to the Loulo-Gounkoto microgrid, both in terms of cost savings and emissions avoided.
In terms of other energy we consume, the bulk of this is through the fleet of vehicles we operate across our sites. We actively participate in programs such as the ICMM’s EV research, as well as industry research and development to reduce emissions from our fleet. Notably, we are trialing the use of EVs at some of our mines where there are currently no viable alternatives. We will continue to engage and monitor progress in this regard.
Our total emissions in 2021 were 7,105kt of CO2e (Scope 1 and Scope 2: market-based), which represents a decrease of more than 5% when compared with our total 2018 baseline emissions of 7,541kt of CO2e. 86% of our 2021 emissions were Scope 1 emissions, which are direct emissions, such as from the burning of fuel at our power plants, diesel used in the fleet or from limestone used in processing at Pueblo Viejo.
GHG emissions through the mine lifecycle
From national grid access to volumes of explosives used, the GHG emissions a mine generates is dependent on a number of factors.
One aspect that is not been widely discussed, or considered, is how emissions can be impacted by where an operation or project is in its stage of life.
A mine that is in construction has a different carbon footprint than one that is going into closure, while a mine that is expanding has a different footprint than one in steady production. We consider the full mine plans and lifecycle when setting our GHG emissions reduction targets and implementing our climate change strategy.
An example of this is at our Pueblo Viejo mine in the Dominican Republic. Pueblo Viejo draws energy from the nearby Quisqueya power plant which we own. Until early 2020, Quisqueya ran on heavy fuel oil.
As a result, Pueblo Viejo was one of our largest sources of GHG emissions. In 2020, we completed the conversion of the Quisquyea power plant from heavy fuel oil to natural gas, resulting in GHG emissions reductions. The Quisqueya power station also provides electricity to the Dominican national grid. The proportion of electricity delivered to the grid accounts for approximately 20% of our electricity emissions.
We are currently expanding Pueblo Viejo and many of the reductions gained by the conversion to natural gas are offset by the additional trucks and energy required for the plant expansion and mine life extension project. We have accounted for that increase in GHG emissions at Pueblo Viejo when setting our emissions reduction target and developing our plan. We expect the plant expansion and mine life extension project at Pueblo Viejo to continue over the near-tomedium term, after which we expect to realize further emissions reductions from the conversion from HFO to natural gas at the lime kiln.
Scope 3 emissions: Scoping our full carbon footprint
(TCFD Metrics and targets b)
At Barrick, we have worked to calculate our Scope 1 and 2 emissions for more than a decade. However, we know that Scope 1 and 2 emissions are only part of the picture and to fully understand our carbon footprint we also need to better understand our Scope 3 emissions, which are those produced throughout our value chain.
Knowing there is truth in the adage, what gets measured gets managed, a key focus of our climate work in 2021 was quantifying and understanding our Scope 3 emissions. There is currently no agreed industry best practice for Scope 3 emissions calculation, and the process is cumbersome. To streamline the process and ensure we focus energy on our most material Scope 3 emissions categories, in July 2021 we undertook a screening exercise at our Tier One assets using the ‘spend based’ approach as well as the tool from GHG Protocol and Quantis against the 15 different Scope 3 emissions categories. This exercise revealed that Scope 3 emissions from our Tier One assets accounted for more than 40% of our total emissions (Scope 1, 2 and 3). The screening exercise further revealed that 99% of our Scope 3 emissions fall within four categories; category one - purchased goods and services; category two - capital goods; category three - fuel and energy use; and category four - upstream transport and distribution.
This clarity of understanding where our Scope 3 emissions flow from enables us to focus our efforts going forward on those categories with the biggest impact. Within this group, we have identified category one - goods and services, as the most material and impactful Scope 3 emissions category that we can address. This is because reduction opportunities in category three - fuel and energy use, are currently limited by the availability of EV technologies. In addition the proportion of renewable energy in national grids, as well as upstream transportation, face similar constraints. Category two - capital goods, are typically one-off purchases and therefore our emissions profile from this category fluctuates annually.
Based on this work, as well as our group climate change strategy, which requires global collective action not at the expense of vulnerable communities or host countries, and coupled with our commitment to the ICMM Climate Change position statement, we have developed a Scope 3 emissions reduction roadmap.
Using technology to drive down emissions
At our Bulyanhulu mine in Tanzania, one of the ways we are working to reduce our GHG emissions is by rethinking the way we assay our samples.
Traditional assay processes require samples to be crushed and ground to a very fine consistency and for furnaces to reach temperatures in excess of 1,000 degrees. This requires significant energy and, in turn, generates emissions.
At our Bulyanhulu mine, we are trialing the PhotonAssay™ model developed by Australianbased mining tech company, Chrysos Corporation. PhotonAssay™ reduces the need for the crushing and grinding of samples and eliminates the necessity of a furnace altogether by hitting the sample with high-energy X-rays. It delivers results in as little as three minutes. Alongside the savings on energy, emissions and time, this assay method delivers improved representative samples, thereby helping to better define reserves and resources and reduce the cost of analysis.
In 2021, NGM entered into an agreement for First Solar to support the construction of the TS Solar Plant in Nevada. First Solar provides the most environmentally-friendly solar modules on the market and has a strong responsible sourcing program with zero tolerance for forced labor practices. In addition, this partnership supports US manufacturing and job creation, lowers NGM’s GHG emissions, and brings a new opportunity for renewable energy.