The company, a founding member of the Industry Task Team on Climate Change, has a high-powered delegation of executives headed by CEO Cynthia Carroll in Durban at the United Nations climate change negotiations (COP-17). The team aims to highlight the efforts by one of the largest mining companies in South Africa to cut energy usage.
Ms Carroll said yesterday the process the South African government was adopting in formulating a carbon tax policy was far preferable to that in Australia, where Anglo is carefully weighing up the financial merits of a pipeline of projects worth $10bn-$15bn after the government passed a carbon tax policy that will affect the mining sector heavily.
She warned about the implications of the current proposals for South Africa's economy.
Anglo wanted a clear and stable policy environment on climate change as it had long-life assets around which it had to plan, said Godfrey Gomwe, executive director of Anglo American SA.
In Australia, a tax of $25 per ton of carbon emitted was adopted to become effective from July next year, provoking a furious response from not only the mining sector, but other industries such as airlines and steel makers. Read the full report here.
Source: Allan Seccombe, Business Day.
