Its industry group referred to 339 large-scale gold mines, or about 60% of total gold mine supply.

WoodMac said cleaner energy projects were expected to save more than 3 million tonnes of CO2 equivalent a year, 5.5% of the gold industry's 2019 emissions and similar to removing 654,000 internal combustion engine cars from the road.

It said the gold industry had emitted more than 55Mt CO2 equivalent in 2019 in scope 1 and 2 emissions, which was about 0.2% of total global carbon emissions.

But while the proportion was small, WoodMac head of gold research Rory Townsend warned the sector to not become complacent.

"Miners who are not striving to reduce their environmental footprints are likely to lose favour among investors and struggle to secure project financing," he said.

"Proof that this is not a box-ticking exercise is evidenced by several miners executing sustainability-linked credit facilities, such as those agreed by Newmont in March and Polymetal increasing theirs in May."

Townsend said several carbon-intensive mines were due to go offline before 2030 but with some mine extensions materialising in light of the elevated gold price, the industry might need to see "even more aggressive action to reduce emissions to align with carbon reduction targets".

He said the bulk of progress to date had been made by 15 companies and called for a collective effort to change the perception of the industry.

"This is an opportunity for miners to boost their green credentials, particularly at a time when other asset classes, such as cryptocurrency, are having their sustainability commitments drawn into question," he said.

Gold major Newmont released its first climate strategy this week.