Our performance

In addition to our on line and sustainable development report within the Annual report and financial statements, we report on by using the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) guidelines - an international, multi-stakeholder effort to create a common framework for the voluntary reporting of the economic, environmental and social impact of an organisation.

As a member of the International Council for Mining and Metals (ICMM), we were involved in work to develop a Mining and Metals Sector Supplement to these reporting guidelines. We believe that the resulting supplement is helping companies to identify and target economic, environmental, and social performance issues and indicators specific to the mining industry, and to produce more relevant, meaningful, and comparable reports.

Please see a summary of our performance in goals and targets and performance data.

Changes to our reporting

We have continued to use the GRI G3 guidelines and the "materiality principle", to identify what we should report on in 2007. In accordance with those guidelines, we declare that our online 2007 Sustainable Development Review is aligned with Application Level A+.  Please go to GRI Checklist GRI Checklist to see our responses.

We have included commentary on non managed operations, such as the Grasberg copper mine, where we have a significant financial interest. And continued to use of a panel of external stakeholders to help us improve our report.

Reporting at Group level

Rio Tinto and Alcan data is presented side-by-side where possible. In many cases data is not directly comparable due to differences in definitions. Moving forward, former Alcan operations will adopt Rio Tinto definitions and consolidated data will be presented from 2008.

Rio Tinto data is reported for calendar years and, unless otherwise stated, represents 100 per cent of the parameter at each managed operation, even though Rio Tinto may have only partial ownership.

We collect health, safety, environment and community data using industry standard techniques consistent with Rio Tinto standards.  We collect data from all facilities to ensure that at least 98 per cent of the inventory in each area is captured.

We apply global definitions and guidance to ensure consistency and comparability between operations.  We store data, which is queried and aggregated to the Group level in a central database to avoid manual intervention. 

And we source factors and formulae that are used in calculations from relevant industry protocols (for example, the Global Reporting Index, the International Organisation for Standardization, and Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) where available. 

Alcan data is also reported for calendar years and represents 100 per cent of the parameter at each operation that was managed by Alcan, with the exception of greenhouse gas emissions, which are presented on an equity share basis.

The independent consulting firm, Ernst & Young, was used to verify the health, safety and environment (HSE) data, and a statement from Ernst & Young is available on Assurance.

Each of our business units and the Exploration group produce their own sustainable development reports, and those for 2007 will be available from the end of April on Local Reports.