Social responsibility

We aim to succeed, but succeed responsibly. We believe that acting responsibly produces real business benefits in the long term - such as lower risks, reduced costs, new opportunities, better relationships and a reputation that is respected. And it is what our employees demand.

We act responsibly towards the communities we are based in, engaging with local community organisations and building partnerships where our expertise can be of benefit. The initiatives that Rio Tinto's businesses are involved in include projects to raise educational levels in remote communities in Australia and work to combat the problems associated with AIDS in South Africa.

Rio Tinto has also made a strategic commitment to sustainable development that requires our businesses to consider the environmental impacts of our operations throughout their life cycle. In many cases, we have used our close relationship with the environment to work through partnerships to improve understanding in such areas as biodiversity, land management and the ecology of river environments.