Rio Tinto plans to invest around US$1 billion over the next five years to support the delivery of its new climate change targets and a company objective for net zero emissions from operations by 2050.

The new targets for 2030 are:

•    A further 30 per cent reduction in Rio Tinto’s emissions intensity from 2018 levels.
•    A further 15 per cent reduction in Rio Tinto’s absolute emissions from 2018 levels.

Under these targets, Rio Tinto’s overall growth between now and 2030 will be carbon neutral.

Rio Tinto Chief Executive J-S Jacques said: “Climate change is a global challenge and will require action across nations, across industries and by society at large. New technologies, partnerships and effective government policies will be key in achieving this goal but today there is no clear pathway for the world to get to net zero emissions by 2050.

“The ambition is clear but the pathway is not and the challenge for the world, and for the resources industry, is to continue the focus on poverty reduction and wealth creation, while delivering climate action. This will require complex trade-offs which means we all need to face up to some challenging decisions and have an honest conversation.

“For Rio Tinto, it is about setting a long-term ambition and establishing stretching, but achievable targets, like we have done for 2030 and 2050. We are fully committed to meeting that challenge and being part of the solution.”

Rio Tinto’s second climate report sets out how the company plans to achieve its ambition of net zero emissions by 2050 through action in four areas: (1) Produce materials essential for a low-carbon future; (2) Reduce the carbon footprint of operations; (3) Partner to reduce the carbon footprint across the value chain; and (4) Enhance resilience to physical climate risks.

The full report provides an overview of Rio Tinto’s approach to climate change and a detailed analysis of marginal abatement cost curves and carbon intensity curves by key commodity and is available here.

Source: www.riotinto.com