We have expanded the list of climate policies we assess company engagement with to incorporate land-use related policy, referring to legislative or regulatory measures to enhance and protect ecosystems and land where carbon is being stored. Assessments under this category are currently underweighted in terms of their contribution to the overall company metrics. This weighting will be progressively increased over the next 6 months.
We adjusted the terminology used to describe the queries running down the left-hand side of our scoring matrix and added additional explanatory text to the info-boxes. This has no impact on the scores and methodology. It has been done following user feedback to improve clarity.
InfluenceMap Data Point on Corporate - Influencer Relationship
(1 = weak, 10 = strong)
Thungela CEO July Ndlovu is the chairman of the World Coal Association (World Coal Association website, up-to-date May 2022)
July Ndlovu
InfluenceMap Data Point on Corporate - Influencer Relationship
(1 = weak, 10 = strong)
Thungela CEO July Ndlovu is the chairman of the World Coal Association (World Coal Association website, up-to-date May 2022)
July Ndlovu
InfluenceMap Data Point on Corporate - Influencer Relationship
(1 = weak, 10 = strong)
Thungela is a member of Minerals Council South Africa, and its CEO is a representative on the assocation's board (MCSA website, up-to-date March 2022)
InfluenceMap Data Point on Corporate - Influencer Relationship
(1 = weak, 10 = strong)
Thungela is a member of Minerals Council South Africa, and its CEO is a representative on the assocation's board (MCSA website, up-to-date March 2022)
InfluenceMap Data Point on Corporate - Influencer Relationship
(1 = weak, 10 = strong)
Thungela Resources is a member of National Business Initiative, and has a representative on the Advisory Committee on Environment and Society (NBI website, April 2022)
InfluenceMap Data Point on Corporate - Influencer Relationship
(1 = weak, 10 = strong)
Thungela Resources is a member of National Business Initiative, and has a representative on the Advisory Committee on Environment and Society (NBI website, April 2022)
In this section, we depict graphically the relationships the corporation has with trade associations, federations, advocacy groups and other third parties who may be acting on their behalf to influence climate change policy. Each of the columns above represents one relationship the corporation appears to have with such a third party. In these columns, the top, dark section represents the strength of the relationship the corporation has with the influencer. For example if a corporation's senior executive also held a key role in the trade association, we would deem this to be a strong relationship and it would be on the far left of the chart above, with the weaker ones to the right. Click on these grey shaded upper sections for details of these relationships. The middle section contains a link to the organization score details of the influencer concerned, so you can see the details of its climate change policy influence. Click on the middle sections for for details of the trade associations. The lower section contains the organization score of that influencer, the lower the more negatively it is influencing climate policy.
Open PDF file of Data Source
Climate Lobbying Overview: Thungela Resources does not appear to be actively engaged on climate change in its top-line messaging or on specific climate-related policies. However, the company is actively engaged on the energy transition and the maintenance of coal as a primary energy source in South Africa, contrary to IPCC science.
Top-line Messaging on Climate Policy: Thungela appears to have limited top-line communications on climate change. In its 2021 ESG Report, published in April 2022, Thungela appeared to support the goals of the Paris Agreement. However, Thungela does not appear to explicitly support the need for government regulation on climate change or the need to reduce GHG emissions in line with the IPCC.
Engagement with Climate-Related Regulations: Thungela Resources does not appear to have any transparent public engagement on specific climate-related policies.
Positioning on Energy Transition: Thungela is a strong advocate for coal’s role in the future, and does not support the transition to a renewables-dominated energy mix. In its 2021 ESG Report, published in April 2022, Thungela strongly supported the role of coal in both the South African and the global energy mix, stating “coal is the pathway to a greener future” and that it is needed to support renewables. In the same report, Thungela argued that the energy transition narrative needs to shift from “phasing out fossil fuels to the phasing in of all emission abatement technologies, including those relating to coal”, and also strongly advocated for a technology-agnostic approach to the energy transition.
Thungela’s leadership also strongly supports the role of coal in the energy mix. Thungela CEO July Ndlovu has consistently shown his support for the maintenance of coal, alongside carbon capture and storage, in the energy mix. For example, in an August 2022 Miningmx article, Ndlovu supported the role of coal in the energy mix "into the 2050s" and that net-zero means does not mean zero fossil fuels. In a May 2022 Financial Mail article, Ndlovu supported the use of ‘clean coal’ and argued for the role of coal in the energy mix. Additionally, in an April 2022 News24 article, Ndovlu supported diversifying Europe’s energy mix by using new and existing coal infrastructure, in response to the ongoing Ukraine conflict.
Industry Association Governance: Thungela has no dedicated disclosure on its industry association memberships. The company discloses its membership to the World Coal Association in its corporate reporting, however it does not disclose details of the nature of its membership nor does it comment on their climate policy positions. The World Coal Association engages negatively on climate policies, and supports a significant role for coal in the future energy mix. Thungela is also a member of Minerals Council South Africa, which actively and negatively lobbies on South African climate change policy. The company has not completed an audit of its industry associations and their positions on climate change policy.