Important environmental social governance risks in potential phosphorite mining in Estonia

•Potential mining of phosphorite is a sensitive issue in Estonia with strong social opposition, mainly due to environmental impacts.•The environmental, social and governance (ESG) risks assessment as a tool was used to find the answer to the question what are the most important environmental, social, and governance risks if phosphorite is mined in Estonia.•People's perceptions were examined in four stakeholder groups, with environmental risks being the most important and social risks being the least important.