2022 – a year in review

20 December 2022

World events set the context in which ASI is trying to drive change

Climate-related emergencies are growing in frequency and intensity.  But COP27 highlighted that there is still only modest progress, at best, on decarbonisation towards a 1.5C target.

The COP15 for biodiversity has just concluded, with the UN’s environment chief warning that “we are at war with nature” and must tackle “the biodiversity apocalypse”.

Within this context of crisis, Indigenous Peoples and local communities face growing pressures on their traditional livelihoods and cultures.

Energy shortages and prices, the ongoing war in Ukraine and continuing inflationary pressures can create uncertainties around investment in change.

The challenges are many, but speak to the urgency of collective action.  We must continue to drive towards progress on our sustainability priorities in the aluminium value chain:

ASI in numbers in 2022

The ASI Certification program provides independent assurance of entity conformance against ASI Standards through accredited third-party auditors.

ASI’s program continues to grow its uptake throughout the aluminium value chain.  By 9 December 2022, ASI has achieved the following in the year to date, with a few more in the pipeline for year’s end:

Ongoing scaling of ASI

We have been steadily welcoming new members this year across a diverse range of operating locations.  This is showing up in the global distribution of ASI Certifications, shown for the Performance Standard below.

Some 2022 highlights in ASI’s work

It has been an incredibly busy year as always.  Some of the highlights for our hard-working team include:

• Launch of the 2022 Standards and Guidance after an almost 3 year multi-stakeholder revision process
• Migration of our educationAL platform to Tovuti along with a range of new modules and collaborations
• A brand new ASI website, with work continuing behind the scenes to enhance functionalities and data access
• Annual Chain of Custody (CoC) data collection and material flow analysis / mass flow showing year on year increase over 3 years
• Contributing to multiple GHG methodology and decarbonisation initiatives
• Roll-out of pre-audit reviews of audit plans for upstream operations, to ensure risk areas are addressed
• 5 witness assessments undertaken to observe ASI Accredited Auditors in Australia, Brazil, China, Germany and Guinea
• Theory of change workshop with the ASI Board as part of annual strategy development
• Strengthening participation in the Indigenous Peoples Advisory Forum (IPAF) and engagement through the Standards Committee
• Workshops with Indigenous communities across northern Australia on bauxite exploration and mining
• Qualitative research underway in Guinea with communities on free prior informed consent principles and practices
• Recognition as a Track A Standard for LME Responsible Sourcing, as part of a comprehensive alignment assessment process
• Independently reviewed as compliant with ISEAL’s 3 Codes of Good Practice for standards setting, assurance and impact
• Finance and investment sector engagement underway on ESG-linked capital flows
• Progress and improvements through Project DigitAL, which is re-building ASI’s digital ecosystem
• Kicking off a major project to build a new elementAL application, ASI’s online assurance platform, in 2023
• A range of ASI team culture and development activities
• A range of interactive ’45 minutes on …’ webinars on ASI-relevant topics
• And much more….

The transition continues into 2023

ASI aims to drive transformative change for aluminium through a sector-wide and inclusive approach.  While we can celebrate early progress, there is much work still ahead.  We thank all our members, partners and the Indigenous Peoples Advisory Forum for joining us on this journey.

Climate, circularity, nature, human rights:  the challenges are broad, complex and inter-connected.  The issues must be tackled together to support effective and just transitions.  Considering only one or some, in isolation from the others, will create unintended consequences.

We all have roles to play – both in incremental change, and ultimately catalysing and coalescing for transformational change.  ASI works to drive change through both its standards and ‘beyond certification’ activities, working directly with a range of Indigenous communities.

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