Women make up less than a third of lithium mining boards

Three-fifths of lithium miners have no female representation at all at the board level, according to Benchmark.

A total of 58% of lithium conversion companies and 34% of lithium mining companies have entirely male boards, according toBenchmark’s Lithium ESG report.

Gender equality at the board level and across companies is increasingly relevant to investors, and also helps attract women to the sector, according toCharlotte Selvey Miller, head of the ESG division at Benchmark.

“The more diversity at the board, the more voices are heard in order to make a company a better environment to work within,” she said. “Progress in encouraging and safeguarding women in the workplace, at the moment, can only be made when taken seriously and if discussed and implemented at board level.”

Miners vs Converters

Under a third oflithium mining companieswho disclosed the information had 20% or more female representation on their board.

Although the proportion of companies reporting at least 20% female representation increases to 46% in the lithium conversion industry, 51 out of 112 lithium conversion companies do not report the gender makeup of their boards.

Beyond the board level, efforts are needed to ensure the workforce across the sector approaches a representative gender balance.

Just 22% of operating miners and 15% of operating converters report the gender breakdown of their workforce, according to Benchmark’s Lithium ESG Report.

“There has been progress to address gender-based discrimination in recent years,” Elizaveta Kremer-Nidzelskaya, an ESG analyst at Benchmark, said. “However a lack of detailed data on female participation in the mining industry obstructs existing efforts to attract women to the sector.”

Importance of gender balance

The United Nations laid out 17 sustainable development goals (SDGs) in 2015, as part of its 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Each goal is further broken down into several targets which should be met to achieve the overall goal.

Benchmark has linked each metric within its materiality assessments in its ESG reports to the relevant SDGs. Benchmark’s ‘Diversity and inclusion’ and ‘Management structure and board diversity’ metrics are linked to the Gender Equality, Reduced Inequalities, and Decent Work and Economic Growth goals.

But beyond such goals, gender equality at the board level and across companies is increasingly relevant to investors.

“Long-term sustainability includes ensuring the safety of women who work within a company or in the surrounding areas of a company’s facility locations,” Selvey Miller said. “Not taking such factors into consideration could lead to company reputational risks if correct policies or programmes have not been implemented and monitored to help reduce such risks.”

Benchmark’s flagship indicators

Benchmark ranks lithium miners and converters for their ESG credentials in each issue of the Lithium ESG Report. This ranking takes into accountseven flagship indicators.

To be a Benchmark Approved lithium miner or converter, a company must fulfil all of the criteria, including having at least 20% female representation at the board level.

“We include this metric as an overarching flagship indicator to tier companies as we see this as a forward-thinking, high level and future-proofing strategy for a company to have, especially those at the forefront of this clean energy transition,” Selvey Miller said.