Determining what is important
Identifying and evaluating matters that are of common material interest to our stakeholders and to our business, and understanding how they may affect our ability to create value over time, are integral to our planning processes and help support the delivery of Anglo American’s strategy.
We identify our material matters through an externally facilitated materiality assessment, which we expect to carry out every two to three years.In previous years, we have sought to identify economic, social and environmental factors that were important to both Anglo American and our stakeholders. This year, however, we conducted a robust, stakeholder-driven double materiality assessment that seeks to capture the key material issues that impact society and the environment (external) and impact Anglo American (internal).
In 2023, our materiality assessment incorporated externally facilitated in-depth interviews with a range of internal and external stakeholders, supplemented by an internal survey sent to managers across the Group, and extensive desktop research. A third-party-led validation workshop then took place where subject matter experts were asked to validate the matters identified as most impactful on both Anglo American and wider society. The final materiality matrix was then approved by the Group‘s leadership and the Board.
To better demonstrate and communicate how our material matters link to our Sustainable Mining Plan, we have mapped each material matter to the plan’s relevant Critical Foundations and Global Sustainability Pillars.
Understanding our stakeholders
Healthy stakeholder relationships help us to better communicate how our business decisions, activities and performance are likely to affect or be of significant interest to our stakeholders, and provide the opportunity to co-create effective and lasting solutions to business and other challenges. Anglo American’s stakeholders include host communities, governments, our workforce, customers, business partners, multinational organisations, industry peers, broader civil society, trade unions, trade associations and suppliers, in addition to our shareholders who own the business. In some instances, we work with representatives from multi-stakeholder initiatives to provide a more collaborative and holistic view on the issues facing our industry.
Beyond the materiality process, we continually engage with our stakeholders at global, national and local levels to develop long term mutually beneficial relationships and respond to society’s most pressing challenges.
