Business Strategy

We operate in 35 countries where our 52,000 employees are working to find better ways to provide the materials the world needs. Our portfolio includes iron ore, copper, aluminium, lithium and other materials needed for everyday life, and for the world to cut carbon emissions to net zero. We have been mining for 150 years, and we continue to build on a history and knowledge that span generations and continents.

Business structure

Our portfolio includes iron ore, copper, aluminium, lithium and other materials needed for everyday life.

Climate change is at the heart of our business strategy

Population growth and urbanisation will underpin demand for our products, as nations continue to grow and strive for prosperity. At the same time, the world must find ways to eliminate carbon emissions, driving shifts in demand for the commodities we produce that are needed for the energy transition. We have a huge contribution to make and a responsibility to deliver the decarbonisation of not just our operations and products, but those of our customers.

To meet these longstanding and evolving global trends, we have put climate change and the low-carbon transition at the heart of our strategy.

We are accelerating the decarbonisation of our assets

We are aiming to reduce our own Scope 1 and 2 emissions by 50% by 2030 and to reach net zero by 2050. We have learned that implementing major decarbonisation projects takes time and disciplined capital investment.

We expect to invest $7.5 billion on decarbonisation by the end of the decade, as we switch to renewable power, electrify processing, and move from mobile to electric fleets. Offsets will also play a supplementary role in our decarbonisation, so we are developing a portfolio of high-integrity nature-based solutions projects at and near our sites. These projects will also deliver positive outcomes for people and nature, allowing us to contribute to a nature positive future.

We are developing products and technologies that help our customers decarbonise

Some of the technology we need to get to net zero by 2050 does not exist today, so we need to contribute, support and partner to make it a reality. We are accelerating the development of new technology, re-established the role and office of Chief Scientist, and doubling our R&D spend to $400 million each year, so we and our customers can decarbonise faster.

We are growing in materials essential for the energy transition

We are growing in materials needed to decarbonise the world through project development, exploration, by re-mining waste with the help of R&D, and through M&A. We are focusing on copper and aluminium for renewables and light-weighting, critical minerals, including battery materials – and high-quality iron ore needed to decarbonise the steel industry.

We can’t decarbonise on our own. So, we are creating partnerships with governments, suppliers, customers, universities, communities, and even other mining and metals companies to help find solutions.

Our four objectives

We will deliver our strategy through four clear objectives, which guide how we operate. These objectives enable our ambition, set a clear pathway to deliver long-term value, and drive our actions – day in, day out. Delivering these with discipline will unlock capacity and allow Rio Tinto to grow with support from those who invest in us and host our operations.

Best operator

We are working to become the best operator of the assets we run. This means transforming how we operate by empowering our people to make changes to be safer, more efficient, and more effective. We are deploying our Safe Production System (SPS) site-by-site to continuously improve our safety, drive employee engagement and lift operational performance. It is a multi-year journey, but we are seeing early and encouraging outcomes. We are accelerating and deepening the rollout of SPS to deliver the full potential of our assets.

Excel in development

We are aligning our growth to what the world needs and strive to excel in development to grow in commodities that will help the global energy transition. We are delivering this growth while maintaining financial strength and resilience through controlled risk-taking to create new opportunities.

Impeccable ESG

We are putting impeccable ESG at the heart of our approach and decision making. This means pursuing our own decarbonisation with conviction, while helping our customers to develop low-carbon products and services, focusing on partnerships at all levels to solve challenges together. It also means that we strive to play a role in contributing to a Nature Positive future, safeguarding human rights, and strengthening transparency and accountability where we operate.

Social licence

Underpinning all our action is a determination to deepen our social licence and become the best partner we can be. We want to build trust with host governments, First Nations peoples and within the community, creating shared success, learning from others, and sharing our own insights transparently. Our progress will be judged by our employees, customers, host countries and communities. Our values, experience and history tell us we must work in a way that delivers real, lasting benefits for the owners of our company as well as the wider communities in which we operate.