Launching the first ESG handbook for marine minerals

The purpose of the guidance document is to enable transparent and consistent reporting of material ESG topics of marine mineral projects in the context of global standards.

Press release

A broad international consortium has developed the first handbook for Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) disclosure in relation to marine minerals.

Encourage ESG Thinking

Marine minerals are emerging as a potential complementary source of critical metals to meet the projected increase in demand, driven in part by the transition to a more mineral-intensive renewable energy system.

The Marine Minerals ESG Handbook project has developed the first edition of an ESG disclosure framework for the marine minerals industry. This was achieved through a two-year iterative process with involvement of marine mineral developers, contractors, financial institutions, science institutions, non-governmental organisations and regulators.

Read full press release (PDF).

“We hope that the development of this ESG handbook will encourage ESG thinking and improvements before any commercial activities begin”, Jon Hellevang, R&D Manager, GCE Ocean Technology.

The objective of the ESG Handbook is to:

• Provide guidance to meet international expectations regarding ESG disclosure for the marine minerals industry.
• Provide an overview of the material ESG topics for the marine minerals industry.
• Provide recommendations for the consistent disclosure of information for each material topic.
• Provide a tool for structured ESG documentation enabling useful ESG disclosures for internal and external stakeholders.
• Facilitate transparency and consistent reporting to inspire and facilitate optimization and improvement across the sector.

Download the Marine Minerals ESG Handbook (DNV).

The marine minerals ESG guidance builds on existing global non-financial performance and ESG reporting standards from recognised institutions while considering the specific challenges and opportunities of the marine minerals industry.

The current global guideline for ESG disclosure is not dependent on, nor replacing regulations.

This disclosure guideline is voluntary and aims to provide a uniform basis for communication with a wider set of stakeholder groups.

Thanks to all who has contributed to the development of the handbook and a special thanks to the project sponsors who made this project possible: Aker BP, Loke / UK Seabed Resources, The Metals Company (TMC), The Norwegian Forum for Marine Minerals (NMM), Equinor, Global Sea Mineral Resources (GSR), INESC TEC and Transocean.

For more information, please contact:

Jon Hellevang
Mobile +47 988 48 828
E-mail: jon.hellevang@gceocean.no

Tor Jensen
Mobile: + 47 415 42 421
E-mail: tor.jensen@dnv.com