Dow Jones Sustainability Index shows Anglo is the best in industry

"Anglo American is proud to be recognised as one of the world's leading companies in terms of our sustainable business practices. Sustainability is embedded in everything we do, starting at the top with our strategy and values, through the organisation to the policies and processes that underpin every aspect of our work," said Cynthia Carroll, chief executive of Anglo American.

All operations have targets

"All our operations have water, carbon and energy efficiency targets, and have developed social management plans to ensure full compliance with the Anglo American Social Way. People are at the heart of our guiding principles - last year alone, there were more than 556 000 beneficiaries of Anglo American's education programmes, approximately 2.2 million beneficiaries of community development projects and we created or sustained more than 47 000 jobs through our enterprise development initiatives. We also manages the largest HIV/AIDS workplace prevention, counselling, testing and treatment programme in the world, with 90% of our 100 000 strong workforce regularly checking their HIV status every year," Carroll added.

The Sustainability Index, which is assured by an external auditor, assesses economic, environmental and social performance and includes a review of policies and performance in corporate governance, risk management, climate change, energy consumption, health and safety, supply chain standards and workplace relations, among others. Only 10% of the 2 500 companies invited to participate in the annual survey are selected to feature in the Index.

Anglo American has been part of the Dow Jones Sustainability Indexes since 2003 and maintained its position on the Index, rising to Gold Class in 2010.