Climate change is one of the key economic and environmental challenges facing the world today according to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). It's global significance expanded rapidly in 2008, resulting in increased risks (and opportunities) to Newmont in the near future. A cap and trade scheme that requires business to pay for emissions above an annual target is scheduled for 2010 commencement in Australia and appears to be advancing rapidly in the United States. These schemes have the potential to directly impact our costs in both regions. In addition, we believe that a "carbon tax" may be imposed on one or more of the essential commodities that we use in our business, such as diesel fuel and electricity.

Physical and environmental changes due to climate change are also a risk to Newmont. Looking to the predictions of the IPCC, we are concerned that the health and welfare of our workforce and members of the communities in which we operate could be more exposed to extreme conditions of weather, the spread of disease such as malaria, and face other hardships brought on by changes in the environment, such as shortages in water supply and impacts on agriculture.

Other predictions by the IPCC, such as rising seawater levels and extreme weather events highlight other threats to our operations. Coastal infrastructure like shipping ports that we rely upon to carry our product to market and receive goods from suppliers to operate our mines could be impacted by increased tidal effects. Also changes to climatic patterns have the potential to alter the basic inputs we use to design our mines. This means that existing designs for infrastructure may not be sufficient, or may be overdesigned such as roads, dams, stormwater conveyance structures, water supply, reclamation covers and other aspects of our facilities. Conversely, climate change may have a positive impact on our Hope Bay project by providing a seasonal ice free corridor for sea transportation, which would simplify transportation of goods and lower costs.

Newmont took meaningful steps in 2008 as part of its carbon management strategy including:

• The creation and recruitment of a new position at corporate headquarters for a Global Greenhouse Gas Manager. The position was filled in May 2008.
• Participation in the Carbon Disclosure Project for the 4th straight year. The Carbon Disclosure Project recognized Newmont on the Carbon Disclosure Leadership Index of S&P 500 companies for our efforts that went into the public disclosure of global greenhouse gas emissions and climate change strategies.
• Becoming a member of the Carbon Disclosure Project Supply Chain Leadership Collaboration to assess the contributions of the supply chain to our greenhouse gas emissions intensity per ounce of gold.
• Signing up as a Founding Reporter to The Climate Registry. The Climate Registry is North America's leading greenhouse gas registry and is featured in significant US federal climate change bills and EPA draft rules as a model for inventory accounting and reporting.

Also during 2008, Newmont focused on developing and implementing a global Greenhouse Gas Execution Plan that builds off of the Inventory Management Plan (IMP) developed in 2007. The IMP is the plan Newmont follows for accounting its greenhouse gas emissions consistent with the World Business Council on Sustainable Development's and World Resource Institute's Greenhouse Gas Protocol. This protocol is designed to help companies use an established approach to carbon emissions accounting. Newmont's IMP sets the foundation for our Greenhouse Gas Program (see sidebar)

One of the most effective ways to reduce carbon emissions is to utilize energy more efficiently, which in turn reduces our costs. In 2008 Newmont completed implementation on a project to enhance energy efficiency that was identified during an extensive two-year, company-wide energy assessment that was concluded in 2006.
For more information: Gold Quarry Dynamic Separator Thermal Reclaim

Newmont is implementing a carbon management strategy built on the following four areas of focus:

1. Carbon Policy Planning and Development - Develop a carbon policy and incorporate it into our operational planning and execution to reduce our emissions intensity, comply with future carbon constraints, adapt our planning and development practices, and demonstrate leadership in environmental stewardship and social responsibility.

2. Global Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Emission Accounting - Develop and maintain a comprehensive global GHG inventory in order to understand our carbon footprint and position Newmont to make informed business decisions that include climate change considerations.

3. Market and Regulatory Knowledge - Build a strong understanding of climate change markets and regulations such that Newmont can effectively mitigate carbon-based risks and capture related opportunities.

4. Energy Planning and Management - Establish a solid foundation for leveraging business process opportunities to drive energy efficiencies and improve energy management resulting in reduced GHG emissions and operating costs.

New standards within Newmont's management system are being derived from the IMP that will become the basis for driving consistent, high-quality and auditable management practices throughout the company.

In addition to energy efficiency, Newmont continues to identify and evaluate energy-generating solutions across the company that range from fuel switching, solar power and mine fleet technology innovation as well as opportunities to generate carbon offsets.
For more information: Evaluating Solar Power
For more information: Mallee Tree Planting Scheme To Cut Carbons