RIO TINTO LTD

We know our operations, throughout their life cycle and associated value chains,

can impact nature and surrounding environments both directly and indirectly.

We also depend on healthy, functioning ecosystems to provide the resources

we need for our operations and supply chains.

We focus on being responsible stewards of

these shared natural resources, ensuring we

protect the health, safety and livelihoods of

local communities, Indigenous Peoples, our

suppliers and our customers. This includes

managing risks to minimise adverse

environmental impacts from our operations

and playing our part to sustain these shared

ecosystems and natural resources for future

generations.

While mining activities use less than 0.1%1 of

the world’s land, they are often in

ecologically and culturally sensitive areas.

That is why – in addition to our

Environmental Performance Standards,

which apply to all of our business units and

managed operations from exploration

through to post-closure – we have shared

our support for the ICMM’s Nature Position

Statement, and actively engage in several

partnerships that address both our own and

broader regional challenges in the areas

Nature strategy

The global threat of biodiversity loss and

ecosystem collapse is an urgent global

challenge, with the United Nations (UN)

Biodiversity Conference and the Kunming-

Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework

(GBF) underscoring the need for bold action.

Given our extensive land holdings and the

nature of our activities, we have the

opportunity and responsibility to ensure our

environmental performance both aligns with

society’s expectations and contributes to the

restoration of the natural environment. We

are committed to playing our part in

contributing to nature-positive outcomes for

industry and society.

In January 2024, we shared our support for

the ICMM’s Nature Position Statement. This

position sets out ICMM members’ approach

to contributing to a nature-positive future,

guided by GBF 2030 targets and ICMM’s

existing commitments in relation to

Indigenous Peoples, climate change, water,

and respecting human rights in line with the

UN Guiding Principles on Business and

Human Rights (UNGPs).

At its most fundamental level, nature positive means “ensuring more nature in the world in 2030 than in 2020 and continued recovery after that”.1

In addition to our support for the ICMM’s

Nature Position Statement, and our role in

contributing to a nature-positive future, our

operations and decision-making is guided by

the following clear environmental-related

commitments:

–We contribute to the global nature-

positive goal of “halting and reversing

biodiversity loss by 2030 from a 2020

baseline, with a full recovery by 2050”.

–We do not explore or extract resources

within the boundaries of UNESCO World

Heritage sites.

–All reasonable steps will be taken to

ensure future operations adjacent to

World Heritage sites are not incompatible

with the outstanding universal value for

which these sites are listed and do not put

the integrity of these sites at risk.

–We respect legally designated protected

areas and ensure any new operations or

changes to existing operations are not

incompatible with the objectives for which

the protected areas were established.

–We do not undertake deep-sea mining, and

believe it should not take place unless

comprehensive scientific research refutes

currently held evidence that it will

create significant environmental and

socioeconomic implications.

Building on our commitments and recognition

of the critical need for action, in 2024 we laid

the foundation for our nature strategy

through consultations with Indigenous

Peoples groups, investors, civil society

organisations, conservation groups, and our

employees. This strategy will direct our

nature-related activities, detailing our

ambitions, commitments, and targets

program, ensuring we take a focused and

measurable approach.

As we formalise the strategy and approach in

2025, we will continue to maintain an open

dialogue with stakeholders to ensure

society’s expectations inform our actions.

We also continue to develop and invest

in a global portfolio of nature-based solutions

to help address climate change and nature

loss, while generating positive outcomes for

communities in the regions where we

operate.

Nature target program

Our nature target program is a core

component of our nature strategy,

acknowledging the interconnectedness of the

4 natural realms – land, ocean, freshwater,

and atmosphere – and their ties to biodiversity

and society.

Building on the work of our 2023 water target

program, which was recognised externally as

industry-leading, we are widening our focus to

encompass nature more broadly. The

expanded program includes a Group-level

strategic target combined with a set of locally

focused, site-based improvement programs,

developed in collaboration with host

communities, Indigenous Peoples groups,

investors, civil society organisations, and

conservation groups.

Our Group target

Our Group target will focus on the health of our

receiving environments and surrounding

ecosystems for all managed operations

through an online dashboard, focusing on

biodiversity and the realms of nature. This

expands upon our interactive water

disclosure platform, released in 2023.

If we identify areas for improvement in the

receiving environment or ecosystem health,

we may also consider additional context-

based improvement programs as part of our

future focus.

Image: The nursery at Richards Bay Minerals, South Africa.

1. ICMM Nature Hub.

Our site-based

improvement programs

Our site-based improvement programs,

developed in consultation with stakeholders,

represent a subset of initiatives to drive

performance at operational sites.

These projects will be selected based on their

risk profile, current performance, external

commitments and the interdependencies of

local communities and the environment.

Our nature target program helps us to

enhance the transparency of our nature

risk profile, challenges and management.

Progress on both the Group target and

site-based improvement programs will be

reported annually.

This approach, along with the data needed to

track progress, will help us contribute to a

nature-positive future.

Water

Water is a shared resource critical to

sustaining biodiversity, people and economic

prosperity. Increasingly disrupted weather

patterns and more extreme weather events

due to climate change and a growing world

population, mean efficiently managing water is

more important than ever.

The way we think about water and manage

associated risks reflects the diversity of our

operations and geographic locations. A small

proportion of our assets operate in water-

scarce regions, while others must remove

excess water to allow safe mining operations.

These are examples of the many potential

risks we manage across the life cycle of our

diverse operations.

We share water with the communities and

ecosystems surrounding our operations, and

we aim to avoid permanent impacts on those

water resources by carefully managing the

quality and quantity of the water we use and

return to the environment. This means

balancing the needs of our operations with

those of the local communities and

ecosystems. We do this while considering the

impact of climate change, already felt in the

level of rainfall and water security at some of

our operations. We understand this

responsibility extends beyond the life of

To address this complexity, we adopt a

catchment-level approach to developing

potential solutions and managing our

operational risks and impacts. We use 2030

water stress as determined by the World

Resource Institute (WRI) to identify operational

catchments of most concern.

Group water risk profile (percentage of managed operations 1)

1. Due to rounding, the sum may not total 100%.

To manage our water impacts, we first need to

understand the specific risks at more than 50

operating sites, as well as our overall Group

impacts. To do this, we have developed a

water risk framework that considers 4 risk

categories:

–water resource

–water quality and quantity

–dewatering

–long-term obligations.

We use this framework to identify, assess and

manage water risks. This comprehensive

approach extends beyond our mandatory

reporting obligations and allows us to have

relevant conversations about water risks

internally and with stakeholders in the

communities where we operate. In 2024, we

continued to embed the Group water control

library, a suite of critical controls and

associated performance requirements, to

manage our water risks.

Our Group water risk profile shows the level

of exposure against each of the 4 risk

categories. Most of our water risks sit in the

low to moderate range. There are some in

very high and high categories for each.

Regardless of the level of risk, we apply

rigorous standards and processes to

manage them. Above, we give examples of

how the risk framework has been applied

across some of our assets.

Our water balance

Our Group water balance outlines where

water was withdrawn from, discharged to,

recycled or reused and consumed at our

The reported categories correlate with the

requirements of ICMM and the GRI.

We also report on our aggregated water

balance for sites in water-stressed areas. We

assess water stress using the WRI’s

Aqueduct Water Risk Atlas mapping tool.

For more information see our 2024 Sustainability Fact Book at riotinto.com/sustainabilityreporting

Our water numbers

Our total operational withdrawals for 2024

were 1,230 gigalitres (GL) (2023: 1,169GL).

Freshwater, or category 1 quality,

withdrawals accounted for 412GL or 33% of

this total (2023: 424GL). Freshwater is

generally suitable for consumption with

minimal treatment required. Where possible,

we aim to minimise our extractions from

water sources of this quality.

Total discharges for 2024 were 668GL (2023:

692GL). Total water recycled or reused for

2024 was 300GL (2023: 303GL).

Our activity

In 2024, we completed our 2019-2023 water

targets program by incorporating 2023 water

usage data into our Surface Water Allocation

Disclosure dashboard. We will continue

adding new data to this dashboard to

maintain a rolling 5-year history. We have

also been working on preparing an

expansion of the same dashboard to include

groundwater data, with an aim to release this

update in 2025.

We progressed work on improving our

understanding of the cultural value of water

as part of an initiative being advanced by our

Australian Advisory Group. We also

continued to develop our Water Risk

Framework by enhancing our Group water

control library, as part of our Group-wide

refreshed assurance program.

For more information see riotinto.com/water

Biodiversity

We depend on healthy ecosystems to run a

sustainable business, and recognise our

responsibility to minimise and mitigate our

impacts on nature. We seek opportunities to

achieve no net loss of biodiversity, and protect

and restore ecosystems where we operate.

We recognise that the interconnected impacts

of climate change and nature loss pose

significant risks both to people and the

environment on which we all rely. Biological

diversity (biodiversity) is the foundation of

healthy ecosystems, which provide valuable

services that directly benefit the environment,

society and industries, including ours. Healthy

ecosystems support vital processes such as

water purification, soil stabilisation and climate

regulation – key aspects that underpin safe

and efficient mining and processing practices.

We also embrace, and are responding to,

increasing societal expectations for

improving our environmental performance,

societal engagement, transparency and

accountability across our value chain.

Managing biodiversity risk

Biodiversity impacts and dependencies are

crucial concepts in understanding the

interconnected relationship between people

and the natural environment, and addressing

these impacts and dependencies are

essential to developing sustainable practices

that conserve biodiversity and support