NEWS OF INTEREST

SAMCODES Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) Working Group constituted to revise the current South African Guideline for the reporting of ESG parameters (SAMESG Guideline)

The SAMCODES Standards Committee (SSC) has constituted a multi-disciplinary working group to update the existing SAMESG Guideline (and other elements of SAMCODES, if required) in order to ensure alignment with the rapidly evolving expectations of investors (and society) for disclosure of environmental, social and governance (ESG) considerations as an integral part of Mineral Reporting disclosures.

An organization's approach to the management of ESG considerations is rapidly becoming a defining feature in the market. Investors continue to demand accurate and transparent information on ESG performance to identify and prioritise funding for top tier investments. The SAMESG Guideline was an industry first when it was published in 2017. Since then, lessons in respect of its implementation have been learnt and the world of investor expectations in respect of ESG reporting has evolved. It is now an ideal time to future proof the SAMCODES to accommodate these lessons and the evolving ESG requirements.

To date, the Working Group has been assimilating the outcomes of the Geological Society of South Africa's (GSSA) ESG Inquisition that was held in 2021 in order to develop inputs that need to be considered when updating the ESG guidance. In addition, direct engagements have been held with a select group of key stakeholders to obtain their views on the issues that need to be addressed in the update.

The outcomes of the above processes have been distilled in a communications document which the Working Group is now issuing for broad public review. One of the criticisms that has been leveraged against the current SAMESG Guideline is that there was inadequate consultation ahead of its publication. It is important to the Working Group that we therefore attempt to solicit the views of as many stakeholders as possible to inform the scope of work going forward.

All parties who are directly or indirectly involved with Mineral Reporting and sustainability reporting are urged to review the initial consultation document from the Working Group and to provide feedback via the survey that has been prepared for this purpose. Persons working in the following disciplines are likely to be well-placed to provide comments: geologists; authors of Competent Persons Reports; environmental, social or governance subject matter experts; authors of corporate sustainability reports; mineral resource valuators; financial managers; institutional investors; private investors; investment analysts and stock exchange regulators as a minimum.

The full report is available on the SAMCODES website at https://www.samcode.co.za/. Please create awareness of this report and the associated survey within your network! Comments should be submitted via the survey link by no later than 24 June 2022. The SAMCODES ESG Working Group looks forward to receiving your input.

Andrew McDonald

Chairperson, SAMCODES Standards Committee