Glencore Averages -27. The Mining Giant ESG Funds Still Hold.
In 2022, Glencore pled guilty to bribery and market manipulation charges across the US, UK, and Brazil. It paid over $1.5 billion in fines and penalties.
Our data scores Glencore at -27 average. One positive score out of eleven values.
The company still appears in funds labelled as sustainable, responsible, or ESG-aligned.
The Full Scorecard
Average: -27. Six negatives. Four zeros. One positive at +10.
The Bribery Record
The -60 on Honest & Fair Business is underpinned by court records. Glencore admitted to paying over $100 million in bribes to officials in Nigeria, Cameroon, Ivory Coast, Equatorial Guinea, Brazil, Venezuela, and the DRC. The US DOJ, UK Serious Fraud Office, and Brazilian authorities all secured convictions or settlements.
The Environmental Record
The -70 on Planet-Friendly Business reflects Glencore's position as one of the world's largest coal producers and traders. Despite pledging to cap coal production, the company has continued expanding operations. Environmental violations at mining sites across Australia, Colombia, and the DRC are documented in regulatory records.
Still in ESG Funds
Glencore appears in ESG-screened indices and funds because many ESG methodologies weight forward-looking commitments alongside backward-looking violations. A company can plead guilty to international bribery and still pass an ESG screen if it publishes the right sustainability report.
This is why we use court filings and regulatory actions -- not corporate reports -- as primary data sources.
For more on the gap between ESG ratings and real-world conduct, see our analysis of why ESG ratings disagree with court records.