Rio Tinto has joined the First Movers Coalition, a global initiative to help commercialise zero-carbon technologies by harnessing purchasing power and supply chains.
Fellow Australian iron ore leaders BHP and Fortescue Metals Group are among the founding members of the group of more than 50 companies working on cleaner steel, aluminium, chemicals, concrete, shipping, aviation and trucking.
The group represents industries that are responsible for almost a third of global greenhouse gas emissions currently, and warns that will soar to more than half the world’s emissions without urgent action on adopting new technology.
The initiative is led by the World Economic Forum and the US Government and targets sectors which are responsible for 30 per cent of global emissions. This is expected to rise to over 50 per cent by mid-century, unless there is urgent progress on clean technology innovation.
Rio Tinto chief commercial officer Alf Barrios said Rio Tinto wanted to bring its considerable buying power to help build sustainable supply chains for emerging green technologies.
“The low-carbon transition is at the heart of our business strategy and success will require large scale of change throughout the value chain, which our pledges to the First Movers Coalition are aimed at supporting,” he said.
“As a member of the First Movers Coalition, we also look forward to building on our existing network of partnerships to support the development of new technologies to help power our way to a net-zero future.”
Rio Tinto is making commitments to purchase more zero emissions fuel for its own shipping fleet and make greater use of suppliers who use zero emission fuels in shipping and aviation. It has also pledged that it will ensure a greater proportion of heavy haul trucks it acquires will be zero emissions.
The company is working to reach net zero by 2050. It has set a target of a 50 per cent reduction in Scope 1 and 2 emissions by 2030, backed with an estimated investment of approximately $7.5 billion in capital.