Adaptation to Climate Change

Sustainable development challenges

MYTILINEOS owns coastal industrial facilities in Greece and operates in countries where the impacts of climate change are more intense. Moreover, the Company’s mining activity, which is directly related to natural resources, may face a range of challenges and problems caused by the changes in the climate, such as the production of alumina, due to the significant water needs of the process. The main challenge for the Company is to assess the vulnerability of its activities to climate change, considering existing and expected climate events and the impacts that these are projected to have.

Commitment

Enhancement of the resilience of the MYTILINEOS production units and adaptation of its activities to the existing and potential impacts of climate change.

Major risks

  • Transition risks: Responding to widespread policy, legal, technological changes related to climate change adaptation and mitigation measures, in the general context of the transition to a lower carbon economy at national, European and global level. Climate change has also been identified as a potential source of reputational risk associated with the changing perceptions of the Company's Social Partners regarding its contribution to a lower emissions economy.
  • Physical risks: These relate to intense or longer-term physical changes which are considered important for the operation of the Company's industrial units such as infrastructure disasters due to extreme weather events, reduction of available water resources due to less precipitation, rising sea level, loss of working days due to extreme temperatures, the need to strengthen measures and actions to protect and restore the environment, etc. These physical risks may have economic consequences, such as direct damage to assets and indirect impacts due to supply chain disruptions

Management / control practices

  • In order to adapt to climate change and reduce the impact of relevant potential risks, the Company takes the following actions: a) examines climate forecasts locally to identify potential risks b) integrates the issue of climate change adaptation within its business decision making processes in order to avoid or minimize the damage associated with climate change and where possible take advantage of opportunities to adapt to changing conditions and c) implement appropriate measures as a result of the above procedures.

The following measures are implemented in each Business Unit:

  • In the Power & Gas Business Unit, the major risks have been assessed and no apparent need to adopt specific targeted measures has been identified. Regarding the Company’s thermal plants, Emergency Response Plans have been developed to address the occurrence of extreme natural phenomena (heatwave, frost, storm, flood etc.), while special flood studies have also been carried out where streams are located in the vicinity of the Company’s power plants. With regard to the operation of RES plants, wind turbines are fitted with safety systems which in the event of very strong winds switch the turbines off and move their blades to a secure position, while solar collector panels are manufactured hail resistant.
  • In the Metallurgy Business Unit, studies have already been carried out regarding the risks of accidents from natural disasters and floods, while existing infrastructures have been improved and new ones have been constructed to address the most extreme weather events and the relevant emergency response plans have been developed. In addition, a climate change water risk study has been carried out.
  • Regarding the Company’s business activity abroad, through the Renewables & Storage Development and Sustainable Engineering Solutions BUs, appropriate protection measures are adopted and implemented within the boundaries of the facilities and work sites.

In addition, the Company has already begun to adapt to the recommendations of the international initiative Task Force on Climate - Related Financial Disclosures (TCFD), in each of the four specific thematic units: Governance, Strategy, Risk Management, Indicators and Targets. More detailed information is published in the Sustainable Development Report of the Company in the relevant TCFD Content Index.

International reference frameworks & management systems

  • ISO 14001:2015
  • GRI Standards
  • SASB Standards
  • TCFD recommendations
  • CDP Climate Change
  • UN Global Compact
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