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TRANSFORMING TRANSFORMING TRANSFORMING
SUSTAINABILITY REPORT FY 2023
Biodiversity Management
The frequency of extreme climate events like
heat waves, wildfires, severe storms and
floods are directly related to accelerating
biodiversity loss and ecosystem degradation.
As such events cause widespread
destruction and loss of lives, the world is still
grappling to cope and find solutions, while
simultaneously trying to prevent further
deterioration of existing natural ecosystems.
Against this backdrop, the pressures on the
mining industry to visibly minimize its
environmental impacts is even greater.
Mining as an activity causes habitat
destruction and disruption, leading to
biodiversity loss and displacement of plant
and animal species. Its principal activities
consist of ground excavation, ore extraction
and processing, causing disintegration of
existing land tracts and dependent habitats
and the potential release of pollutants into
soil and water bodies. These impacts of
economic activity, unless mitigated in a
planned and scientific manner, can cause
long-term damage to community groups in
the vicinity and therefore need to managed
with sensitivity and understanding.
Vedanta recognizes its role and
responsibilities within the increasingly
climate-challenged world and the necessity
of acting for the good of all. Human society
needs healthy ecosystems for its survival,
and so do our operations. Across the 52
sites that we operate, we depend on natural
ecosystems to safeguard water supplies, act
as a barrier against storm surges in coastal
regions, and create liveable conditions for
the communities that reside near our
operations. Vedanta’s long-term growth and
aspirations hinge on being a responsible
corporate that doesn’t denude natural
wealth, rather creates a legacy for future
generations to benefit from. Our
commitment to ensuring No-Net-Loss or
Net-Positive-Impact (NNL/NPI) stems from
this belief, as we responsibly manage our
assets throughout their productive life and
then ensure their safe revegetation and
natural reclamation.
Our biodiversity management programme
considers certain critical parameters to
achieve the objectives of biodiversity
conservation across the project life cycle –
from initial development to
decommissioning, closure, and rehabilitation.
The programme is spearheaded by the
Biodiversity Community of Practice, which
ensures proper implementation at every
stage and at every site.
The parameters that we consider are:
• Taking a comprehensive approach to
managing land use in critical habitats.
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• Our policy and standards address any
risks associated with biodiversity in all our
operations.
• Identifying affected stakeholders basis
their interest in the use or management of
biodiversity or those who are affected by
conservation initiatives. Stakeholders may
include organizations, communities or
individuals.
Managing biodiversity risks
Biodiversity risks originate from
deterioration and disruption of biodiverse
regions and are today a matter of concern
for a large number of stakeholders. As a
natural resources company, we are
cognizant of limiting our impact on
biodiversity. The growing sensitivity to
environmental issues and their impact on
biodiversity conservation and pollution
prevention can occasionally lead to
challenges for our organization. These
challenges encompass various aspects,
including potential disruptions to our core
production materials, complexities within
our supply chain, and associated economic
and business risks. Given the importance of
this category of risks, they are integrated
into our overall risk management framework.
In this way we ensure that a comprehensive
and holistic approach is taken to identifying
and addressing these potential risks within
our operations. We are also able to monitor
and mitigate these risks and their impacts
across all our operations, fostering a more
sustainable and responsible approach to
resource utilization and conservation.
Aligning with international standards and
frameworks for effective evaluation
As India leads the world’s economic growth
THE PLANET THE WORKPLACE
tally, we at Vedanta believe that we have an
important responsibility to discharge. As
the nation’s largest natural resources
company, we must set the benchmarks for
accountable operations and strong
governance. In line with this objective, we
have integrated a wide variety of
international best practices into our
operational processes and governance
mechanisms. Our assessment frameworks
are modelled on sector-leading
international frameworks that answer to the
specific needs of a study and its sampling
universe.
The Vedanta Biodiversity Management
Standard has been developed by
incorporating elements from the
International Finance Corporation‘s (IFC)
Performance Standard 6 that covers
biodiversity conservation and sustainable
management of biological resources.
Recently we have completed a
comprehensive assessment of the impact
of our operations on biodiversity across 52
of our sites. The methodology followed for
this assessment aligns with evolving
biodiversity and nature-related frameworks
like Taskforce on Nature-related Financial
Disclosures (TNFD) that require companies
to assess biodiversity impact using the
following criteria:
• Locate: This involves identification of
high-risk biodiversity sites,
• Evaluate: This involves understanding the
impacts and dependencies of our
operations on nature, and
• Prepare: This involves developing
strategies and action plans to address
nature-related issues
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