Hartshead Resources NL (ASX:HHR) has appointed sustain:able, a UK-based oil and gas-focused ESG and sustainability consultancy, as an advisor to assist in the development of its ESG strategy, related emission reduction initiatives and reporting frameworks.
Hartshead is committed to energy transition initiatives and understands the importance of its environmental and social responsibilities.
These responsibilities, together with its compliance to the latest ASX guidance and reporting standards on corporate governance, are the basis of HHR’s environmental, social and governance (ESG) strategy.
HHR is focused on building a financially, technically and environmentally responsible European energy business and is dedicated to securing and investing in projects where resources can be extracted and delivered to meet Europe’s growing energy demand while supporting the transition to a low carbon future.
As part of its phase one development, Hartshead will report on specific initiatives to mitigate carbon emissions and minimise environmental impact.
Five key ESG strategy areas
sustain:able will work with Hartshead in developing its ESG strategy and reporting in the following key areas:
- An audit of Hartshead’s current activities including a thorough materiality assessment based on the GRI standards;
- Selection of an appropriate ESG framework based on the UN Sustainable Development Goals;
- Development of a full ESG company strategy;
- Implementation of the selected strategy and management/monitoring processes, including focus on building an ESG-aware company culture; and
- Reporting and ESG content for annual report inclusion.
sustain:able will also work with Hartshead to address its scope one and two emissions impact assessment and ensure that HHR’s ESG strategy reflects its recently implemented business management systems encompassing environmental, safety and corporate governance and any future guidance or reporting standards as required by the ASX and ASIC.
Further to this, alignment with the Institutional Investors Group on Climate Change (IIGCC) net-zero standards for oil and gas will help HHR set its net-zero roadmap and meet the requirements of institutional capital, whose managers are now increasingly pricing climate-related risks into their corporate valuations and preferentially allocating capital to low carbon businesses.
“We are very pleased to be working with sustain:able on our ESG strategy and reporting requirements, which are a critical component of our field development plans within the UK Government’s 2050 net-zero strategy,” HHR CEO Chris Lewis said.
“Hartshead will be interfacing with several stakeholders on its journey to first gas and our ESG strategy will be key to attracting capital to our phase one project.”