Analysis of the regional environmental performance of mining corporations through the examination of the Corporate Sustainability Reports

Abstract

This research makes empirical contributions toward analysing the environmental performance of mining companies and environmental legal enforcement across regions. A total of 98 Corporate Sustainability Reports from ten mining corporations issued between 2010 and 2019 were examined to collect qualitative and quantitative data about environmental incidents and environmental legal compliance (in terms of monetary sanctions). The salient findings of this research were three:

Low environmental performance was recognised in developing mining-rich regions (Africa and South America), compared with developed regions such as North America, Australia, and Europe, given that developing regions accumulated the highest number of environmental incidents. Most of the environmental incidents were triggered by rainwater, and the main components affected were land and water.

Prolonged periods (of more than ten years in some cases) to issue a fine to mining companies after the occurrence of an environmental incident were detected. The enforcement capacity of mining-rich governments remains primarily poor. Only a small percentage of environmental incidents resulted in fines by environmental agencies in the countries where these mining companies operate.

Finally, most of the Sustainability Reports issued by mining companies contain complex and incomplete information, which results in difficulty in usage or comparison. Inter-company and inter-year reporting variations were noticed in the structure and content, selective information was likely to be disclosed for the environmental non-compliance (monetary sanctions) indicator, and the information provided was complicated to evaluate properly when qualitative data was not robust for the environmental incidents indicator. The participation of stakeholders is likely vital in making transparency effective around environmental reporting and preventing the illusion of transparency (zombie transparency) in the Sustainability Reports in the mining sector. The points raised by this research suggest that this may be challenging based on the information provided.