Glencore plc

LSE: GLEN21Laggard· Provisional

0 followersDiversified mining & commodity trading·Baar, Switzerland·Founded 1974

www.glencore.com

One of the world's largest diversified commodity producers and traders, with major thermal coal operations alongside copper, cobalt, nickel, and zinc; acquired Teck's Elk Valley steelmaking coal division in 2024.

21/100

Laggard· Provisional

ClimateTicker Green Score · how it's calculated

Greenwashing risk: highData confidence: high

Why it's on ClimateTicker

Glencore is the world's largest thermal coal exporter and a major steelmaking coal producer — businesses that are structurally incompatible with a 1.5°C pathway — and its 2024 acquisition of Teck's Elk Valley Resources expanded, not contracted, its coal footprint. While the company produces transition-critical metals (copper, cobalt, nickel, zinc) and discloses emissions data with third-party assurance, its net-zero pledge is explicitly conditional on 'a supportive policy environment,' its emissions targets are not SBTi-validated, and its regulatory lobbying in Australia and elsewhere has actively opposed ambitious climate policy — making any 'green mining' framing deeply misleading.

laggardGlencore earns revenue through two integrated divisions: an industrial arm that mines and processes commodities (coal, copper, cobalt, zinc, nickel) at owned and operated sites in 35+ countries, and a marketing arm that sources, trades, and distributes over 60 commodities globally, capturing margins on physical flows.

Commitments & Certifications

CDP: Discloses — score not confirmed in search results ↗other: ISAE 3410 Limited Assurance — Deloitte LLP ↗other: Copper Mark — Conforms (with corrective actions required by March 2026) ↗

Controversy & Greenwashing Watch

mediumWorker Fatalities & Rising Occupational Disease

Glencore recorded four work-related fatalities in 2024 (same as 2023) and occupational disease cases surged from 163 to 281, raising concerns about operational health and safety standards.source ↗

highSwiss Attorney General DRC Corruption Conviction

Switzerland's OAG convicted Glencore of 'inadequate organisation' enabling bribery in DRC mine deals and imposed a $152 million penalty in August 2024, while Glencore continues paying royalties to US-sanctioned middleman Dan Gertler.source ↗

mediumEVR Acquisition Expands Coal Footprint

Glencore completed the $6.9 billion acquisition of Teck's Elk Valley Resources steelmaking coal division in July 2024, adding ~19.9 Mt of coal production and emissions currently excluded from its own climate targets scope.source ↗

highAnti-Paris Lobbying via Industry Associations

InfluenceMap and ACCR document Glencore's membership and board positions at the Minerals Council of Australia, Queensland Resources Council, and NSW Minerals Council — organisations that actively oppose ambitious climate legislation — while Glencore's own 2024 submissions opposed Australia's more ambitious emissions targets.source ↗

mediumClimate Plan Falls Short of IEA NZE Coal Pathway

Independent analysis by ACCR found Glencore's 2024 CATP inconsistent with IEA NZE coal requirements, noting the company plans to operate coal mines to end of economic life (some until the 2060s) and stepped back from previously citing the IEA NZE scenario as its benchmark.source ↗

mediumMisleading Lobbying Disclosure (InfluenceMap Finding)

InfluenceMap assessed Glencore's account of its own climate lobbying activities as misleading, finding that it stated support for the Australian Safeguard Mechanism while actually opposing a significant proportion of its proposed design in formal consultations.source ↗

highGlobal FCPA Bribery & Market Manipulation Guilty Pleas

Glencore pleaded guilty to a decade-long scheme paying over $100 million in bribes to foreign officials across eight countries and to manipulating fuel oil prices at US ports, agreeing to pay over $1.1 billion in combined US/UK/Brazil penalties.source ↗

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