Wherever possible we prevent, or otherwise minimise, mitigate and remediate, harmful effects of the Group's operations on the environment.

Excellence in environmental performance is essential to our business success. Compliance with all environmental laws and regulations is the foundation on which we build our environmental performance. We support and encourage further action by helping to develop and implement internationally recognised management systems and voluntary commitments.

We similarly approach a comprehensive understanding of the full life cycle and safe use of our products to ensure all their benefits are delivered.

We develop Group wide standards and build systems to identify, assess and manage environmental risk. These apply at each stage of exploration, development, operation and closure, as well as in acquisition and divestment evaluations, to achieve continuous improvement in environmental performance. We also engage with host communities, governments, customers, suppliers and others to the same end.

We obtain assurance on the implementation of our environmental policy, both internally and externally, by regular audits, reviews and reports. Each Group business produces a separate social and environmental report for its local communities.