COAL MINDER. The impending departure of chairman and former BP boss Tony Hayward gives Glencore the chance to prove its green credentials. The 38 billion pound commodity miner-trader may have dug up 106 million tonnes of coal last year, but outgoing Chief Executive Ivan Glasenberg has pledged to run that down while lifting production of copper and cobalt, both crucial to the low-carbon economy. The new chairman will have to adjudicate a crucial debate. Some shareholders want Glasenberg’s successor, Gary Nagle, to phase out coal sooner; others prefer a sale to maximise coal’s residual value, which is likely to do little for global carbon emissions. Hayward, remembered primarily for a catastrophic oil spill, was poorly placed to referee. His replacement doesn’t exactly have to be Greta Thunberg, but a corporate bigwig with a track record of taking climate change seriously would lend handy credibility to the group’s green turn. (By Ed Cropley)