Our approach to sustainability

Over the years, Polyus has made significant progress in embedding sustainability across our operations. As a major enterprise, we must work responsibly to ensure that Polyus continues to create value for all of our stakeholders. This involves a commitment to developing our employees and protecting the broader communities where we operate as well as the natural environment.

Key sustainability focus areas

We measure our sustainability progress against the following focus areas:

1. Ensuring the safety of our employees
2. Managing our environmental impact
3. Supporting community development

Polyus bases its approach to sustainability – represented by corporate standards, principles, reporting and goals – on a set of important globally recognized standards that are relevant to our corporate profile.

The most important and universal of these are the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). As a business, we recognize the importance of all 17 SDGs, but prioritise the eight areas on which our business has the greatest impact. We set specific targets within these Goals, which can be found in our Sustainability Reporting.

Polyus’ priority SDGs are:

• Goal 3: Good Health and Well-Being
• Goal 4: Quality Education
• Goal 6: Ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all
• Goal 7: Affordable and Clean Energy
• Goal 8: Decent Work and Economic Growth
• Goal 9: Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure
• Goal 12: Responsible Consumption and Production
• Goal 13: Climate Action
• Goal 17: Partnerships for the Goals

We ensure that our activities are aligned with ICMM’s Ten Mining Principles:

1. Ethical Business
2. Decision-Making
3. Human Rights
4. Risk Management
5. Health and Safety
6. Environmental Performance
7. Conservation of Biodiversity
8. Responsible Production
9. Social Performance
10. Stakeholder Engagement

Learn more about the ICMM’s Ten Mining Principles on the ICMM’s website here.

In our Sustainability Reports, Polyus reports on annual progress across the SDGs and sets further targets to work towards.

1. Sustainable growth and efficient management of environmental and social risks at each stage of the life cycle of an asset: exploration, engineering and design, production and processing, closure and rehabilitation.
2. Strong financial results while adhering to sustainability principles in our operations.
3. Achieving a zero injury rate through a world-class safety culture.
4. To be a reliable partner to all stakeholders, including local communities in our areas of operation, and maintain an open dialogue with all stakeholders, taking their interests into account when making decisions.
5. To cultivate a team of professionals committed to helping Polyus achieve leading industry positions while adhering to sustainability principles.

Our corporate Sustainability Management System (SMS) is part of the Company’s operating model and was developed in line with the International Finance Corporation (IFC) Performance Standards 1-8, the Sustainability Principles and Position Statements of the International Council on Mining and Metals (ICMM) and other relevant national and international standards and guidelines.

To ensure effective and continuous management of sustainability-related issues, the SMS covers all key stages of the annual management cycle: from planning and goal-setting to managing improvements, as well as the whole life-cycle of the Company’s assets — from geological exploration to mine closure.

Fundamental to effective sustainability governance is the continuous management of environmental, social, and economic risks.

We manage sustainability risks as part of our corporate risk management system. Under the system, sustainability risks are regularly identified, assessed and monitored — both at Managing Company and BU/PS level.

The voluntary property insurance program provides coverage of Polyus Group expenditures on depollution. Given the most significant environmental damage could hypothetically arise from tailing storage facility failures, Polyus has initiated development of a special programme of environmental impairment liabilities insurance with a limit of $100 mln.

We aim to conduct business only with those supply chain partners that are fully compliant with national, regional and local legislation requirements and ready to share our values such as the avoidance of negative environmental impacts, creation of social benefits, focus on operational safety and respect for human rights. We have developed Supplier code of conduct to ensure that Group HSE standards are also met by all suppliers.

We recognise that a number of environmental and social issues faced by the business community, and in particular by Polyus, can be solved more efficiently through collaboration and joint action from all involved parties.

Therefore we work actively with a wide range of industrial associations and national and international advocacy organisations, including:

• Gornoye delo (‘Mining’ — a national association that promotes the mining industry)
• The Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs (RSPP; an independent, non-governmental organisation)
• The Russian Union of Gold Producers (a non-profit organisation)
• The National Association for Subsoil Examination (a non-profit partnership)
• The All-Russia Intersectoral Association of Employers — producers of nickel and precious metals (a trade union)

While recognising the importance of all 17 of the UN’s SDGs, Polyus believes that as a company it can make the greatest positive contribution to those SDGs that are most impacted by its operations. For this reason, we prioritise eight goals.

The United Nations Sustainable Development Goals to 2030 (SDGs), adopted following the 2015 UN General Assembly,represent an important unified effort to address social, environmental and economic issues to achieve global sustainable development and a better future.

We believe that, like every major organisation, we have a role to play in supporting the SDGs through our everyday operations as well as corporate sustainability programmes that go above and beyond, to lead by example in its industry and market.

The mining industry has its own specific impact on the environment around it. When managed properly, miners can bring investment and infrastructure to remote regions, create jobs and drive innovation, however the physical nature of the activity carries many challenges relating to preservation of the environment and the safety and well being of people.

Polyus constantly seeks to engage and build respectful, transparent and mutually beneficial relationships with its stakeholders, address their concerns and expectations — and keep them informed of the Company’s activities. Understanding our stakeholders and their values and needs is of the utmost importance to Polyus.