Glencore plc is a Switzerland-headquartered mining, commodity trading, and metallurgical recycling company.
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Glencore is a massive mining and commodity trader with an enormous operational and supply-chain carbon footprint (416 Mt CO2e annually), minimal renewable energy adoption (3.5%), and a history of bribery convictions. Despite 25% absolute emissions cuts since 2019, the company undermines its own trajectory by acquiring $7 billion in steelmaking coal assets while thermally coal declines. Unvalidated climate targets, active greenwashing allegations, and aggressive climate policy obstruction complete a picture of structural misalignment with decarbonisation.
Glencore plc scores 17/100 (Significant gaps) on SINK's independent climate assessment, scored from public data only. Fees pay for the review, never the result. Last verified May 2026.
That places Glencore plc joint 828th of 847 companies scored, and 13th of 14 in Mining & Extraction.
Where Glencore plc sits among mining & extraction peers.
Among the 14 major mining & extraction brands we've scored, Glencore plc sits 13th of 14.
Its three lowest-scoring questions, and what the evidence didn't show.
Renewable energy comprises only 3.5% of total energy (down from 7.6% in 2022) despite consuming 189 petajoules annually.
Convicted of bribery 2007–2019 (US DOJ); CHF 2 million fine and USD $150 million compensation (Swiss authorities).
Generates approximately 2.31 billion tonnes of waste annually; only 1% managed sustainably.
A score changes when the evidence does. We use new published evidence at the next rescore. Evidence that isn't public can count through an evidence review.
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Get in touch →Strongest on Carbon Footprint — Operations and Transparency & Accountability (7/10, 6/10). Weakest on Energy Source and Controversies & Red Flags (1/10, 1/10).
The 3 companies in the sector scoring nearest above Glencore plc.
Vale reports meaningful absolute emissions reductions and 84% renewable electricity globally, but operates at a scale (466 MtCO₂e total) that dwarfs these gains.
See the breakdown →Anglo American publishes granular operational emissions data but lacks third-party GHG assurance and rejected SBTi validation.
See the breakdown →Rio Tinto reports comprehensive operational emissions data but remains the highest Scope 1 & 2 emitter among mining peers globally.
See the breakdown →The formula and all 12 sources.
Same ten questions for every company. No private weighting.
SINK = (0.3 × Base + 0.7 × Performance) × Scale12 sources used in this assessment. All publicly available. Each row shows which of the ten questions it informed.
6 of 12 sources are independent of the company.
If you believe a source has been misread or a newer version exists, submit a challenge.
Glencore plc is a Switzerland-headquartered mining, commodity trading, and metallurgical recycling company. One of the world's largest diversified commodities producers, it operates copper, cobalt, nickel, zinc, lead, coal, and oil assets across 50+ countries, employing over 156,000 people. FY2022 revenue exceeded $256 billion.
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