Scored evidence collected on an entity's engagement with land-use and circular economy policy will now be fully weighted into the final calculations for each entity's metrics. This follows a two year process where InfluenceMap has evolved its methodology to collect evidence on corporate and industry engagement with these key areas of climate-related policy.
We have strengthened the algorithm for discounting the impact older evidence on an organization's top-line metrics. Evidence from within the last two years is weighted the strongest and then gradually weighted out of the scoring calculations as it gets older. All evidence that is 5 years or older is completely removed from the scoring calculations. Users will still be able to view older evidence items that are archived the scoring matrix below, but these will not be impacting the organization's current scores.
In this section, we depict graphically the relationships the corporation has with trade associations, federations, advocacy groups and other third parties who may be acting on their behalf to influence climate change policy. Each of the columns above represents one relationship the corporation appears to have with such a third party. In these columns, the top, dark section represents the strength of the relationship the corporation has with the influencer. For example if a corporation's senior executive also held a key role in the trade association, we would deem this to be a strong relationship and it would be on the far left of the chart above, with the weaker ones to the right. Click on these grey shaded upper sections for details of these relationships. The middle section contains a link to the organization score details of the influencer concerned, so you can see the details of its climate change policy influence. Click on the middle sections for for details of the trade associations. The lower section contains the organization score of that influencer, the lower the more negatively it is influencing climate policy.
Climate Policy Engagement Overview: The Rio Tinto Group has a strategic level of engagement with climate policy. The company demonstrates top-line support for climate action but displays a mix of positive and negative positions on specific climate-related regulations globally, including Australia’s Safeguard Mechanism reforms. Rio Tinto’s recent positioning on the energy transition is largely positive, generally supporting the decarbonization of industry and the move towards a renewables-based energy system.
Top-line Messaging on Climate Policy: Rio Tinto’s top-line messaging on climate policy is largely positive. The company has consistently shown support for greenhouse gas emissions reductions in line with the 1.5°C target as well as for the goals of the Paris Agreement, for example in its Climate Change Report 2023, published February 2024. While Rio Tinto appears to generally support the need for government policy to respond to climate change, as shown in an April 2024 consultation submission, it qualified this support in an April 2023 media release by stating they should be market-based and should not affect the competitiveness of emissions-intensive trade-exposed industries.
Engagement with Climate-Related Policy: Rio Tinto engages with a mix of positive and negative positions on climate-related policy globally. The company issued top-line support for several renewable energy initiatives in Australia, including the Capacity Investment Scheme and Hydrogen Headstart program, in a July 2024 consultation submission and appeared to also support the Guarantee of Origin scheme in an April 2024 consultation submission. While Rio Tinto also supported the objectives of the Capacity Investment Scheme in an August 2023 consultation submission, it appeared to advocate for the inclusion of ‘low carbon firming technologies’ in the policy, without clearly specifying the exclusion of fossil fuels. In addition, although Rio Tinto acknowledged the potential for carbon border adjustment mechanisms (CBAM) to reduce carbon leakage in a December 2023 consultation submission, it appeared to stress the potential challenges related to the introduction of a CBAM in Australia.
However, Rio Tinto displays largely negative positions on Australia’s SGM reforms. While Rio Tinto acknowledged the importance of the SGM in achieving Australia’s emissions reduction targets in its Climate Change Report 2023 and supported it “as part of a suite of measures to incentivise genuine industrial abatement,” the company also highlighted the financial impact of the policy and appeared to emphasize the need for the policy to account for the extended timeframes required for technological breakthroughs. In addition, Rio Tinto appeared to advocate for several provisions that risk undermining the climate ambition of the policy in its February 2023 consultation submission on the reforms, including a slower baseline decline rate of 2 percent for metals and minerals industries.
Positioning on Energy Transition: Rio Tinto displays largely positive positions on the energy transition in recent years, generally supporting the decarbonization of industry and the move towards a renewables-based energy system. In an April 2024 consultation submission on Australia’s Electricity and Energy Sector Plan, for example, the company advocated rapid electrification and increased investment in renewable energy and green hydrogen and communicated the need for a reduction in the use and production of fossil gas and liquid fuels. However, it is unclear if the pace and extent of this reduction is aligned with IPCC guidelines. In addition, Rio Tinto generally supported the increased use of biofuels for use in hard-to-abate sectors in a July 2024 consultation submission, yet without also stating the need to transition to a renewables-based energy system.
In its August 2023 consultation submission on the review of Australia’s National Hydrogen Strategy, Rio Tinto advocated for regulatory measures to accelerate the development of green hydrogen projects, including increased funding for the Hydrogen Headstart program and an increased use of green hydrogen in shipping. However, while the company generally supported the use of hydrogen in hard-to-abate sectors in its Climate Change Report 2022, published February 2023, it appeared to emphasize technological concerns around hydrogen produced from renewable energy and its potential contribution to the decarbonization of industry.
Industry Association Governance: Rio Tinto has published a review of its alignment with its industry associations in its Industry Association Disclosure 2023. The company found some material misalignment between its positions on climate policy and the climate-related advocacy of the US National Mining Association. Rio Tinto is a member of several associations that regularly display negative advocacy on specific climate-related policies, including the Minerals Council of Australia, US Chamber of Commerce and California Chamber of Commerce via its subsidiary U.S. Borax.
InfluenceMap collects and assesses evidence of corporate climate policy engagement on a weekly basis, depending on the availability of information from each specific data source (for more information see our methodology). While this analysis flows through to the company’s scores each week, the summary above is updated periodically.
This summary was last updated in Q3 2024.