Supporting Gold Road to adopt the Taskforce on Nature-related Financial Disclosures (TNFD) framework
- Client Name
- Gold Road
- Location
- Perth, Australia
Challenge
Gold Road plays a key role in the exploration, development, and operation of gold mines, contributing significantly to the mining sector. Following its commitment to achieve net zero by 2050, and previous work on climate-related risks, Gold Road engaged SLR to further strengthen its sustainability efforts by adopting the Taskforce on Nature-related Financial Disclosures (TNFD) framework, establishing a baseline to support the development of future targets. The work focused on Gold Road’s exploration operations.
Our team progressed Gold Road’s work-to-date to establish material nature-related impacts and dependencies, through engaging with multiple stakeholders and scoring risks and opportunities using a bespoke scoring tool, allowing for integration into the company’s risk management system.
Solution
Our approach comprised three phases: 1) TNFD Diagnostic, (2) A screening of dependencies, impacts, risks and opportunities and 3) Scoring and ranking.
TNFD Diagnostic
Our team undertook the following:
- Reviewed and assessed Gold Road’s alignment with the TNFD framework.
- Engaged key stakeholders through interviews to understand more about the company’s current and future nature / biodiversity work.
- Carried out peer benchmarking to understand Gold Road’s maturity and identify leading practices that can be adopted for enhanced disclosures. This provided valuable insights to inform improvements and align reporting with evolving stakeholder and regulatory expectations.
Screening of dependencies, impacts, risks and opportunities (DIROs)
Our team carried out the following:
- Conducted desktop research using tools such as the Science Based Targets Network (SBTN) Materiality Screening Tool and World Wildlife Fund (WWF) risk filters to identify a long list of DIROs and sensitive locations via GIS analysis.
- Engagement with Gold Road to review and refine the DIROs list, resulting in a prioritised shortlist.
DIRO Scoring
Our team carried out the following:
- Developed a bespoke qualitative scoring methodology to assess and rank the shortlisted nature-related DIROs.
- Engagement with Gold Road to review and finalise the prioritised DIRO rankings.
Impact
This project set out to identify and prioritise key nature-related DIROs, bringing Gold Road into closer alignment with the TNFD. This process developed a systematic approach towards identifying and prioritising Gold Road’s nature-related risks.
Gold Road now have a list of nature aspects that could have a material impact on business strategy and operations. Gold Road can now also identify sites that are of high biodiversity / nature value through results of the WWF Biodiversity Risk Filter, allowing for location-specific action and adaptation / mitigation techniques for aspects such as water scarcity and proximity to key biodiversity areas.
Looking ahead, Gold Road can now work on the integration of DIROs risks into decision-making and business planning.
“Gold Road engaged SLR to assess our exploration activities against the TNFD framework to identify reporting gaps and recommend actions required to enable reporting against the TNFD framework requirements before mandatory reporting is enforceable. Although TNFD is relatively new, SLR were extremely knowledgeable about the framework requirements and assessment tools available, they were well organised and met every milestone set for the project. Working with SLR was easy, they are professional, personable, and responded quickly to any queries we had throughout the project. The project output delivered on our expectations, and I would recommend SLR to anyone embarking on their TNFD reporting journey.”
Gold Road
