Orano - Annual Activity Report 2025 178 4 SUSTAINABILITY STATEMENT Environmental information 4.2.3.3 Biodiversity and ecosystem-related policies and actions With regard to biodiversity, Orano is committed to its preservation and sees it as an essential factor in ensuring that its activities are compatible with the environment. Overall, aspects relating to flora and fauna are effectively taken into account from the design phase of new projects, then throughout the operational phases of the facilities, and finally during the redevelopment of the sites. In line with its climate commitment, since 2024, Orano has rolled out a Nature strategy, signed by the group’s Chief Executive Officer and available on the group’s website. It follows on from the Biodiversity strategy defined in 2021 and includes the IROs directly related to the group’s activities. It covers all the Orano operational sites and makes it possible to structure the various actions already deployed and to strengthen the group’s commitment to the protection of biodiversity. This Nature strategy is based on three main areas: ● preserving nature by reducing our sources of pressure; ● living alongside the biodiversity present on the group’s sites and nearby; and ● promoting local biodiversity and reporting on Orano’s actions on the subject. These three main areas are broken down in proportion to the issues identified on the sites. In addition to the application of the Avoid, Reduce, Offset (“ARO”) approach, the action priorities are: ● regular assessment of Orano’s global footprint and ecological diagnostics and inventories for sites with challenges; ● the preservation of the most remarkable areas by the voluntary exclusion of mineral exploration in classified areas (at the time of the mining permit application) as UNESCO heritage sites or in categories 1a, 1b and 2 of the IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature); ● supporting the biodiversity present on operating sites through the implementation of reasoned management plans for green spaces and the development of the landscape approach; and ● raising employee awareness of nature issues. Issues related to the Upstream value chain are covered through the Responsible Purchasing policy. In general, Orano’s strategy is based on an assessment of the global biodiversity footprint, carried out through the Global Biodiversity Score (GBS) tool of the Caisse des Dépôts et Consignations Biodiversité. The group’s overall results, as well as those specific to Orano Mining, were analyzed and will be used to identify the main action levers. The strategy is an extension of Orano’s 2024-2026 HSE policy in its “reduction of the environmental footprint of our activities on several environmental aspects” including biodiversity, which is explicitly mentioned. This policy was signed by the Chief Executive Officer and its application is monitored by the Head of Health – Safety and Environment (HSE), a member of the executive committee. It is available on the group’s website. Preserving nature Orano applies and implements the avoid, reduce, offset (ARO) sequence by prioritizing, for example, for its mining projects the avoidance of outstanding areas via a voluntary exclusion of projects located in areas classified as UNESCO heritage, extended in 2024 to areas classified as IUCN cat. I and II. This voluntary extension contributes to target 1 of the Kunming-Montreal Agreement (“Reduce the loss of areas of high biodiversity importance, including ecosystems with high ecological integrity” to close to zero by 2030), and is also a response to the IRO relating to the transition risk related to the increase in biodiversity conservation regulations. Systematic ecological diagnostics are also carried out before any project in areas of special interest for biodiversity to identify any protected species that may be present and define the most appropriate avoidance, impact reduction or offset measures. An environmental impact study (EIS) is systematically carried out for each new project or whenever a major modification to industrial facilities is expected. It includes the “ARO” analysis on biodiversity. Owing to their location and size, the mining sites are particularly concerned with biodiversity protection and conservation, whether during the exploration, operating, or “postmining” phases. For this reason, Orano Mining, which is also an active member of the ICMM (International Council on Mining and Metals), takes care to carry out actions to avoid, reduce impacts, restore, and offset, where necessary, on its sites. As an example, detailed impact studies continued in 2025 on the Zuuvch Ovoo and Dulaan Uul sites in Mongolia to assess the impacts of the mining project in ISR and propose mitigation measures as well as environmental monitoring principles. An update of the impact study of the Trekkopje project in Namibia was also launched, in connection with the re-assessment of the project’s Detailed Feasibility Study (DFS). In 2025, field studies were conducted in Canada to update the environmental reference point (zero point) of the Midwest project area. This updated information will support the request for authorization to use the SABRE mining technique (an innovative extraction method developed by Orano engineers) to exploit the Midwest deposit. In 2025, Katco financed a program to restore the dry bed of the Aral Sea, in partnership with the forestry and wildlife committee of the Ministry of Ecology of Kazakhstan. This initiative is not limited to planting trees. It makes it possible to restore an ecological balance and to play a role in preventing desertification. The offset of a saxauls forest (a species endemic to the region) is also anticipated in the group’s projects in Mongolia. In this way, research work led to the construction of a nursery adapted to the specific conditions of the region and to the planting of endemic trees in a selected area, using local practices enriched by the conclusions of studies carried out with specialists and scientists from Mongolian and French public institutes.
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