Finding better ways to provide the materials the world needs
Purpose & Values
The drive for innovation and continuous improvement is at the heart of our purpose
Business Strategy
Climate change is at the heart of our business strategy
Innovation
Finding better ways to do things is in our DNA
We supply the metals and minerals used to help the world grow and decarbonise
Iron Ore
Iron ore is the primary raw material used to make steel
7 things the world will need for a low-carbon future
Wind, sun and water – what else do you need to make renewable energy work?
Sustainability – the expectation, not the exception
Shaping our aluminium product offering to meet demand for greener metals
Bringing to market materials critical to urbanisation and the transition to a low-carbon economy
Look inside a mine of the future
Our most intelligent mine yet is pioneering new mining technologies
Rincon Project
A long-life, low-cost and low-carbon lithium source
Simandou Project
The world’s largest untapped high-grade iron ore deposit
Providing materials the world needs in a responsible way
Sustainability Reporting 2023
As temporary custodians of the land where we operate, we are entrusted with accessing the world’s essential materials and making them available for society’s use
Climate Change
We’re targeting net zero emissions by 2050
Tailings
We’ve launched a new interactive map of our tailings facilities
We aim to deliver superior returns to our shareholders while safeguarding the environment and meeting our obligations to wider society
Reports 2023
Download our 2023 Annual Report, Climate Change Report, Sustainability Fact Book and Taxes Paid Report
Get the latest news, stories and updates
Things you can't live without
Our podcast discussing what needs to happen to create a sustainable future for the everyday items we have come to rely on
A new way to decarbonise steel
Tackling a global challenge
Tackling it all
A short documentary series with the Queensland Reds is inspiring working women everywhere
Discover more about life at Rio Tinto
Graduates and students
If you want to drive real change, we have just the place to do it
Empowering families with flexibility
Supporting new parents of any gender with equal access to parental leave
Available jobs
Join our team
While there has been broad consensus on the need to tackle climate change, there has not been sufficient action. Since the world started discussing the challenge in the early 1990s, emissions have more than doubled.
We recognise that we have a major carbon footprint, significant scope 1 and 2 emissions and very material indirect scope 3 emissions. And we know we must address this with urgency to be part of the solution the world is looking for.
So, in 2021 we announced new scope 1 and 2 targets. We will bring forward our 2030 target of reducing our scope 1 and 2 emissions by five years. We are also more than tripling our 2030 target, increasing it to a 50% reduction in our scope 1 and 2 emissions.
To achieve these targets, we will need to take genuine actions. We must switch to renewables at scale and at pace, electrify everything we can, work across our entire value chain and accelerate the development of new technology. And we are starting an internal race that will activate all our people to think differently about energy solutions.
A new pilot program will help us find out
Our starting point is unique as we do not extract fossil fuels and we already have extensive hydropower for our most energy-intensive business, our aluminium smelters.
Today 75% of the electricity in our managed operations is from renewables and we have approved solar projects at Gudai-Darri in the Pilbara, Western Australia, QIT Madagascar Minerals in Madagascar and our Weipa bauxite operations in Queensland, Australia. These projects are only a start and we are committed to scaling up their deployment. We must do much more.
We are investing in new technologies – from zero-carbon aluminium smelting to using renewable hydrogen in alumina refining to cross-sector partnerships to develop zero-carbon trucks. We are developing one gigawatt of solar and wind power at our iron ore operations in the Pilbara, Western Australia. This will replace gas power to meet demand from our fixed plants and infrastructure, as well as support the electrification and decarbonisation of our mobile fleet. This will reduce the carbon emissions from our Pilbara operations by about a third.
We are also investing in green energy solutions for the Boyne and Tomago aluminium smelters in Australia. These smelters account for 27% of our scope 1 and 2 emissions, and more than half of our emissions from electricity use. We recently announced a partnership with the Queensland Government to develop central Queensland into an industrial and advanced manufacturing hub, helping to deliver a more sustainable future for the area by fast tracking renewables and attracting new green industries.
We are also revising our internal carbon price to $75 per tonne of CO2, to provide the incentive to accelerate the delivery of abatement projects across our business.
Revolutionising the way aluminium is made
As well as decarbonising our own assets, we need to develop products that can help our customers decarbonise. Our scope 3 emissions are nearly 520 million tonnes of CO2 and around 95% of this is from the processing of iron ore, bauxite and other products by our customers.
The transition of the steel value chain towards net zero will need new technologies and we believe there will be at least three phases of transformation: firstly, blast furnace optimisation, secondly, the accelerated development of direct reduction iron, and, lastly, new technologies. This will include direct smelting as well as more speculative technologies such as electrolysis, which will require a number of technical breakthroughs.
We’ve built a dedicated steel decarbonisation team to support the transition. This team will continue to work closely with our customers on blast furnace optimisation and focus on “cracking the code” to find future pathways for Pilbara iron ore.
We’re also committed to developing our high-grade Simandou deposit in Guinea. The resources contain a significant proportion of ore that can meet Direct Reduction requirements. Lastly, we’re studying the feasibility of building a hydrogen-based hot briquetted iron plant at our Iron Ore Company of Canada (IOC) business. The proposed plant will have access to high-grade Direct Reduction pellets from IOC, and renewable electricity, with the prospect of producing green hydrogen.
There is no doubt we face significant challenges. But the transition to a lower carbon world also offers a unique opportunity for us to grow.
The race to net zero will also create additional demand for our commodities. And in many important applications, there are no alternatives to the commodities we produce. All the materials we produce are fundamental: copper is the best non-precious conductor of heat and electricity on the planet. It's found in everything from the electrical wiring in your house to renewable power sources like wind turbines. From electric vehicles to power grids, in a low-carbon future we'll need more and bigger batteries. That means we'll need significant amounts of minerals like lithium, a key ingredient in battery technologies. And aluminium is light and strong – perfect for use in energy-efficient transportation.
Iron ore is also essential, not only for ongoing urbanisation, but also in the drive to net zero. A large scale move to renewable energy will create additional demand for steel for the construction of a multitude of wind turbines. Steel, particularly green steel, has a bright future. That is why we at Rio Tinto continue to love steel, a product for the future. It just needs to be decarbonised, which is not easy, but it will happen.
I appreciate many are sceptical about the ability of a mining business to deliver on the climate front, beyond issuing ambitious and long-dated targets. That is why we are sharing a clear pathway to material reductions by the end of the decade. We are convinced that this will strengthen Rio Tinto as a business.
We already have a lot of successes under our belt, from automation, the discovery of new minerals like Jadarite, and progressing game-changing technologies like Elysis. What we’ve learned over the years – from both our successes and the things that haven’t come to fruition – will help us identify new opportunities. And we are partnering with some of the best minds globally.
We must meet this challenge and work closely together with governments, suppliers, customers and partners, like never before, to drive change.
We are up for the challenge.
How we process personal data provided or obtained through this website.
With the exception of the use of cookies, Rio Tinto generally does not seek to collect personal data through this website. However if you choose to provide personal data to Rio Tinto through this website (for example, by sending us an email), we will process that personal data to answer your query and if relevant, to manage our business relationship with you or your company. We won't process that personal data for other purposes except where required to meet our legal obligations or otherwise as authorised by law and notified to you.
If you choose to subscribe to our media releases or other communications, you can unsubscribe at any time (by following the instructions in the email or by contacting us).
With your consent, our website uses cookies to distinguish you from other users of our website. This helps us to provide you with a good experience when you browse our website and also allows us to improve our site. A cookie is a small file of letters and numbers that we store on your browser or the hard drive of your computer if you agree. Cookies contain information that is transferred to your computer's hard drive.
As some data privacy laws regulate IP addresses and other information collected through the use of cookies as personal data, Rio Tinto’s processing of such personal data needs to comply with its Data Privacy Standard (see Part 1 of our Privacy Policy), and also applicable data privacy laws.
With the exception of the use of cookies (explained below), Rio Tinto generally does not seek to collect personal data through this website. However if you choose to provide personal data to Rio Tinto through this website (for example, by sending us an email), we will process that personal data to answer your query and if relevant, to manage our business relationship with you or your company. We won't process that personal data for other purposes except where required to meet our legal obligations or otherwise as authorised by law and notified to you.
Part 1 of this Privacy Policy contains the Rio Tinto Data Privacy Standard, which provides an overview of Rio Tinto’s approach to personal data processing. There is additional information in the appendices to the Data Privacy Standard, including information about disclosures, trans-border data transfers, the exercise of data subject rights and how to make complaints or obtain further information relating to Rio Tinto’s processing of your personal data.
If you choose to subscribe to our media releases or other communications, you can unsubscribe at any time (by following the instructions in the email or by contacting us at digital.comms@riotinto.com).
With your consent, our website uses cookies to distinguish you from other users of our website. This helps us to provide you with a good experience when you browse our website and also allows us to improve our site.
A cookie is a small file of letters and numbers that we store on your browser or the hard drive of your computer if you agree. Cookies contain information that is transferred to your computer's hard drive.
As some data privacy laws regulate IP addresses and other information collected through the use of cookies as personal data, Rio Tinto’s processing of such personal data needs to comply with its Data Privacy Standard (see Part 1 of this Privacy Policy), and also applicable data privacy laws.
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