The board of directors of Norilsk Nickel has approved an updated environmental and climate change strategy, as well as the key focus areas for achieving carbon neutrality.
The strategy was updated to reflect the new geopolitical environment, to account for the company’s experience, more stringent requirements of the Russian environmental legislation, as well as international standards required by clients.
The strategy is now divided into mandatory and voluntary parts. The mandatory part seeks to comply with legal requirements and includes targets across seven key focus areas: number of emergencies, air, water, tailings and waste, soil, biodiversity, and stock exchange requirements.
To deliver on the targets, the company drafted programmes that include more than 150 specific initiatives. Investments are estimated at more than 500 billion rubles for the period of 2023-2031.
Key activities include reducing sulphur dioxide emissions in Norilsk and Monchegorsk, water recycling and reuse; launch and reconstruction of treatment facilities at outfalls; land reclamation, sanitation, reforestation; monitoring of environmental elements and introduction of an automated monitoring system for pollutant emissions; and biodiversity impact assessment in all areas affected by the company’s operations.
The strategy’s largest project in the mandatory part remains the Sulphur Programme in Norilsk that seeks to cut sulphur dioxide emissions into the atmosphere drastically.
The voluntary part of the strategy includes optional focus areas such as waste in terms of increasing recycling rates, soil, some international initiatives and standards, and climate change. The voluntary part of the strategy includes 187 initiatives. Targets in a number of focus areas are to be refined in 2024-2025.
Stanislav Seleznev, vice president for Ecology and Industrial Safety of Nornickel, commented: “The updated environmental strategy is a testament that in an effort to become a sustainable growth leader among the global M&M majors the company continues to strictly follow environmental principles and cultivate a responsible approach to business at all levels of the corporate structure. We have ambitious goals to mitigate our environmental impact while also adjusting our operations to climate changes already seen and expected to occur going forward. Nornickel remains strongly committed to its sustainability strategy regardless of external factors.”
Apart from that, Nornickel’s board of directors approved the key focus areas of carbon neutrality.
The key areas for achieving carbon neutrality set out main efforts consistent with best business practices to reduce the company’s gross GHG emissions and carbon footprint in the short, medium, and long term. The main focus is on opportunities to develop low-carbon energy sources, climate projects, use of energy-efficient technologies and equipment, artificial intelligence, conversion of vehicles to alternative fuels.
Projects on CO2 capture and storage, as well as conclusion of free bilateral contracts for purchase/sale of electricity are planned for further analysis and research. Among other things, together with Siberian Federal University, the company explores potential natural climate projects in the regions where the company operates, as well as studies waste rock mineralisation in order to absorb GHG emissions from the tailings storage facilities of Nornickel’s concentrators.
In line with global best practices of strategic planning and TCFD recommendations, the company is piloting internal carbon price, a tool for mitigating carbon regulation risks. It is being tested now in investment project assessment.
Theodor Lisovoy, Editor in Chief of the European bureau, Rough&Polished
