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
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We are dependent on healthy ecosystems to run a successful business and we recognise our responsibility to effectively mitigate the impact of our operations on nature.
Healthy natural environments with functioning ecosystems are key to climate resilience. They also provide important services to the communities where we operate and our business. We are committed to protecting biodiversity, and our ambition is to achieve no net loss where we operate. This means striking a balance between negative impacts on biodiversity and positive outcomes achieved through mitigation.
We’re advancing palm cockatoo research with technology trials at Weipa
We’re working with community seed collectors to improve how we restore land after mining
Meet the engineer supporting conservation by teaching computer models how to find rare birds
We are active members of the ICMM and other industry associations and working groups seeking to drive improvements for our industry. Our involvement in the ICMM Taskforce on Nature-related Financial Disclosures (TNFD) working group, Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) Biodiversity Technical Committee and the ICMM Nature Working Group have contributed to the development of important industry resources including the TNFD framework, the draft GRI Biodiversity Standard, and ICMM’s Nature Position Statement.
We continue to assess the sensitivity of our planned activities using combined global datasets of threatened species and conservation and protected areas, developed by the UN Environment Programme World Conservation Monitoring Centre (UNEP WCMC). Together with the UNEP WCMC, we completed an updated biodiversity sensitivity study in 2023 to inform risk prioritisation across our activities, including exploration and projects, and support allocation of resources. Work will continue in 2024, to be guided by the recommendations of the TNFD framework.
We continue to innovate to help us become better environmental stewards. In 2023, in partnership with the UNEP WCMC, we piloted a standard method for efficiently identifying potential actions to deliver conservation value beyond the management of our direct impacts. Together with UNEP WCMC, we conducted TNFD pilots at two sites (Simandou in Guinea and Greater Hope Downs in Western Australia) to inform the development of the framework. This process provides us with a better understanding of our impacts, dependencies and importantly, the key environmental monitoring and management activities that will underpin future disclosure requirements.
In 2023, we continued the independent review of monitoring programs at our high-priority biodiversity sites.
This involved ensuring management plans and actions adequately address biodiversity risks. We completed this review at our Richards Bay Minerals (RBM) site in 2023, with further efforts planned for 2024.
We also submitted a revised Environmental and Social Impact Assessment (ESIA) for our planned mine and rail activities at our Simandou project in Guinea, drawing on data collected over the last decade, and have progressed work to deliver an ESIA in 2024 for the planned development of the port.
At our Weipa operations, we continue to use machine-learning solutions to support research and monitoring of the endangered Palm Cockatoo and have partnered with the Australian National University and Australia Zoo’s Wildlife Warriors to better understand the challenges faced by this species. This ensures that leading conservation science informs our decisions and helps bring balanced perspectives, innovation and best practice to responsible environmental stewardship.
In Australia, because many of our operations are situated on the coast and our value chain is dependent on marine transport, we invest in marine research to address potential impacts.
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For example, our Cape Lambert port, in Western Australia, is next to Bells Beach, a regionally significant mainland rookery for the threatened flatback turtle. Since 2002, we have conducted annual field work at Bells Beach, Delambre Island and other regional sites to monitor the visiting turtle populations. To protect these breeding grounds, we adopted measures such as feral animal control, light management and dune protection. We do this work in ongoing partnership with the local community, regulators and the Ngarluma people – the area’s Traditional Owners. Sharing the program learnings is one way we help others support the conservation of these marine turtles.
At QIT Madagascar Minerals, we have established 3 protected conservation areas – around 2,095 hectares of forest – within the region.
These areas, which are home to unique plant and animal species like lemurs, are carefully managed in partnership with local civil society organisations and community groups, helping further mitigate biodiversity impacts and ensuring availability of natural resources for communities.
One such species is the millipede – a critically important species for the health of the local forest ecosystem. Madagascar’s littoral forests grow on low-nutrient sands flushed by heavy rains, and so millipedes play a key role in decomposing leaves and other plant matter, to produce natural fertiliser for plant growth. By establishing conservation zones, we can help protect the millipedes as well as the healthy ecosystem they support.
In California, we use a local beekeeper to rehouse bees found onsite, helping keep both the bees and our employees safe.
Like many other insects, honeybee populations around the world are experiencing sharp declines: threats such as intensive farming, climate change, pesticides, diseases and invasive species are combining to create a hostile environment. So conservation efforts, such as those at Boron, are more important than ever.
The bees’ role as a pollinator is of enormous value both in stimulating natural biodiversity and in making many crops viable. At Boron, we move the bees to the operation’s 31 km2 (nearly 12 square miles) conservation land, adjacent to the mine, where they can forage on wildflowers and pollinate the local flora. They are later moved near commercial orchards to help pollinate crops like almonds, cherries, plums and avocados.
Our environmental standards guide the way we identify and manage environmental risks. They are developed using international best practices, often with the help of academic, civil society and Indigenous partners. We also work closely with local communities and Indigenous Peoples to plan for, and monitor, potential impacts from our operations and carry out mitigation activities. At our Weipa operations in Far North Queensland, Australia, for example, we set up the Land and Sea Management programme, which employs Traditional Owners to help monitor and manage cultural heritage, plants and land and marine wildlife to ensure minimal disruption.
We have also set up a number of independent panels at some of our sites to guide and help us. At QIT Madagascar Minerals, for example, we have established a Biodiversity and Natural Resources Management Committee – which the International Union for the Conservation of Nature facilitates – that includes experts in biodiversity and community management of natural resources. This committee helps us implement and monitor our biodiversity work and balance the natural resource needs of local communities.
We also contribute to regional biodiversity research and conservation efforts, such as the Nechako White Sturgeon Recovery Initiative in British Columbia, Canada. The Nechako White Sturgeon is a survivor from the age of dinosaurs and the largest freshwater fish in the country. We were a founding member of the Initiative – a partnership between all levels of government, environmental groups and First Nations peoples – which aims to prevent further declines of Nechako White Sturgeon numbers, ultimately rebuilding a self-sustaining population.
Australia's northern quolls, a small spotty marsupial, are doing it pretty tough – so tough, in fact, they are listed as an endangered species.
Quolls were once a common sight in Australia, but over the years introduced species like poisonous cane toads and feral cats have decimated these cute, furry creatures. So when we found a small population of quolls living at our Weipa bauxite operations, in far northern Australia, our team went to work to protect them.
We found and recorded a number of quolls as part of our regular baseline ecological surveys, and took the opportunity to carry out further research. With the data we collected, we were able to demonstrate the importance of the area, which meant that mining was excluded from that part of the lease.
As well as avoiding disturbance in the area where the quolls were found, we have been working with ecologists and the local Nanum Wungthim Land and Sea Rangers to learn more about the northern quoll populations in the area. This includes monitoring the population using motion sensor cameras, and conducting tracking studies to follow the movements of quolls fitted with radio emitting collars. Both programs have provided valuable insights into northern quoll ecology and how we can help protect these beautiful animals.
We continually monitor our impacts and redefine our approach. If we need to make changes to the design of our operations, we re-evaluate our land management and rehabilitation plans and adjust them accordingly.
One such risk, particularly in more tropical climates, is the spread of invasive species – either by directly or indirectly creating environmental conditions that encourage them to thrive or by introducing them to a new area. Since the time of explorers, the movement of goods and people has resulted in some species establishing themselves where they interfere with naturally occurring species. In such cases, the best way to protect biodiversity is to eradicate invasive species and ensure that we do not introduce new ones as a result of our activities.
It is therefore important that we constantly monitor these species to ensure that control measures are working.
For example, in Gove, in Australia’s Northern Territory, Yellow Crazy Ants are considered to be one of the world’s worst invasive ant pests. The ants pose a major threat to Australia's biodiversity, out-competing and displacing native insects, which are crucial for ecosystem health. Since 2003, we have been working with the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) and Yolngu Business Enterprise on eradicating the Yellow Crazy Ant through detection and baiting.
We even use dogs: Gove Operations Rehabilitation Specialist Faye Lawton, who has been part of the eradication project since the start, says that having detection dog Jet on the team is a huge benefit. “Jet has been trained as a wildlife conservation detection dog and is fantastic at finding where a particular species – in this case Yellow Crazy Ants – might be hiding. Trials show that detection dogs are able to locate targeted species up to 300% more effectively than humans, so we are extremely lucky to have him here helping our environmental team map any Yellow Crazy Ant locations,” she said. Jet’s ability to detect the species is amazing and has meant that the team have been able to assess the monitoring results and tailor the program to ensure the species is on the way to eradication.
We use the mitigation hierarchy – a well-established method to address biodiversity risks – to ensure that we effectively manage our risks and impacts on the areas where we work. This includes:
We look for opportunities to change or stop an activity to preserve biodiversity. For example, by avoiding disturbing an area where threatened species are found. At our QIT Madagascar Minerals Mandena mine site, we have committed to exclude 430 hectares of littoral forest from our mine plan as a community-managed protected area.
Where we cannot completely stop an activity or avoid an area, we look for ways to reduce our impacts. This includes things like speed limits on our haulage roads to protect wildlife, adding bird deflectors to transmission lines – as we do at our Oyu Tolgoi operations in Mongolia – and maintaining wildlife corridors and buffer zones in areas where we are operating – like at Richards Bay Minerals in South Africa.
We progressively revegetate disturbed land wherever possible, such as at our heavy mineral and our bauxite mining operations in South Africa and Madagascar, and Australia, respectively. Where this is not possible until closure, we have detailed rehabilitation plans for when mining in the area is finished. This includes working with scientists and local Indigenous people to make sure we are restoring land the right way.
These are actions we can take to address significant residual impacts we cannot avoid, minimise or restore. At our Weipa Operations in Far North Queensland, Australia, for example, we established an offset area, which includes sensitive ecosystems and is managed in partnership with Wik and Wik-Waya Traditional Owners.
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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