June 24, 2021 – ALROSA presents comprehensive Sustainability
Programme, which covers all business activities of the Company and
aims at raising responsibility and transparency of diamond mining and
production, and strengthening of customers’ trust
ALROSA Group Sustainability Programme is a
strategic document covering the Group's fundamental sustainability
principles and approach to sustainability and reflecting the
Company's systematic efforts in the field.
In accordance with the comprehensive Programme the
Company has identified long-term sustainability ambitions and
developed an action plan for their implementation.
ALROSA’s key 2025 sustainability pillars and
targets include:
Environment: development and approval
of environmental and climate change strategy in the 1st
quarter of 2022, including scenarios to achieve carbon neutrality,
expanded scope of information disclosure in accordance with Climate
Disclosure Project (CDP), implementation of Task Force on
Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD) recommendations;
Communities: ALROSA annually allocates
more than RUB 10 bn (more than USD 130 mln) to implement community
development and support programs for the operational regions. The
share of social investment in the Company’s revenue today is about
5%, which is the highest rate in the diamond industry. ALROSA will
also strive to ensure a consistently high share of local and
indigenous peoples employment;
People: maintaining industry
leadership in terms of the share of women in the total headcount
(more than 30% of women as of now) and consistent increase in
employee loyalty and satisfaction;
Health and Safety: achieving zero
injuries and an annual 10% decrease in LTIFR;
Governance and ethics: conducting
regular diamond supply chain due diligence for 100% of diamond
production.
Overall, ALROSA has committed to achieve 24
ambitions themed to deliver the strategic pillars, set 52 qualitative
and quantitative targets and developed an action plan for their
implementation.
“The diamond mining industry now has a
crucial role in improving the socioeconomic well-being of the
operating regions and the transition to a high-tech low-carbon
economy. This was especially evidenced during the periods of
instability, as showed the experience of the coronavirus pandemic
last year. That is why sustainability has always been part of the
mission, strategy and corporate culture of the Company.
If earlier this was a traditional request from
our state shareholders, then recently our minority shareholders began
paying significant attention to ESG factors. This also applies to
such public inquiries from the BlackRock investment fund with a call
to improve the work and the system of information disclosure on
ESG indicators as well as a recent open
letter from the world's largest investment companies
controlling assets worth USD 41 trillion on the need to
accelerate the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions. The list of
signatories includes up to 20% of the Company's minority
shareholders. Overall, we see that almost all current or potential
institutional investors of ALROSA consider ESG aspects when making
investment decisions.
By developing detailed action plan to achieve
the targets of the Sustainability Programme, ALROSA confirmed its
intention to continuously improve its operations, implement modern
technologies and best practices, and promote leading international
standards in the field of climate, environment, social
responsibility, corporate governance and industry self-regulation.
Having achieved the targets, ALROSA is expected to
increase the efficiency of sustainability management system, form the
basis for the long-term sustainability of the Company, and to
significantly enhance contribution to the socio-economic well-being
of the operational regions”, - commented Sergey Ivanov, ALROSA CEO
– Chairman of the Executive Committee.
The five strategic pillars reflect the ALROSA
Group approach to sustainable development and its contribution to the
achievement of 13 priority UN Sustainable Development Goals. They
also confirm the ALROSA Group adherence to the ten fundamental
principles of the UN Global Compact and the intention to promote the
sustainable development agenda both within the Group’s core
activities and within the framework of developing international
partnerships. The programme is designed to meet the requirements of
the international standards and guidelines for responsible business
conduct, industry self-regulation, including the standards of the
World Diamond Council (WDC) and the Responsible Jewellery Council
(RJC), and also complies with sustainability best practices.
In February 2021, to determine the ALROSA Group
sustainability vision and objectives and to assess the effectiveness
of the Programme implementation the Supervisory Board’s Strategic
Planning Committee has been renamed the Strategy and Sustainable
Development Committee. The Committee has established a Sustainability
Taskforce comprising of the Supervisory Board members and leading
international experts responsible for discussing and agreeing on the
objectives, ambitions and targets, including review of the best
international practices and analysis of their applicability for the
Company.
ALROSA is committed to annually disclose
information on the progress on achieving the ambitions and targets of
the Sustainability Programme to all stakeholders. Detailed
information about the Programme is available here.
|