U.K.-Australian mining company Rio Tinto has committed to enhance its approach to climate advocacy to support the decarbonization of its operations after engaging with shareholders and civil society organizations.
In an April 5 announcement, the company said it would do so by disclosing the policy settings it needs in order to meet its goal of cutting Scope 1 and 2 emissions by 50% by 2030.
The company’s new approach will also include engaging with the Australasian Centre for Corporate Responsibility (ACCR) on a series of briefing papers on specific assets and emission sources later this year.
“This commitment to positive climate advocacy from Rio Tinto is extremely welcome,” ACCR Company Strategy Lead Harriet Kater said in an official response to the company’s announcement. “Industrial-scale decarbonization is an enormous challenge. Companies can show leadership by clearly signaling where government interventions can assist in addressing genuine barriers in order to expedite the decarbonization of their assets and value chains.”
“The more effective policy we have, the less companies will need to fall back on sub-standard alternatives like carbon offsets for meeting their emissions targets,” she argued.
In a series of discussions with investors prior to the annual meeting in London on Thursday, Rio Tinto said that its investors have highlighted the need for greater transparency and conversation on the role of government policy signals in decarbonization by creating the right framework for change in hard-to-abate industrial value chains.