1 EarthWatch Institute Workshop, RGS London 11th November 2005

BIODIVERSITY PERFORMANCE MEASURES – Their role in Rio Tinto

Dave Richards

Principal Adviser, Environment

2 EarthWatch Institute Workshop, RGS London 11th November 2005

Presentation Content

• Rio Tinto

• Rio Tinto’s Biodiversity Strategy

• Net Positive Impact

• The Rio Tinto/Earthwatch Working Group on Biodiversity Performance Measures

• Indicators and Targets

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Rio Tinto Group

36,000 people, including 6,000 in Joint Ventures

Multiple cultures

20,000 km2 of land, only 7% ‘needed’ for mining

12 Smelting/Refining Operations

54 Mining Operations

23 Other Facilities and Development Projects

20 Countries

Exploration and Technology

6 “Product Groups”

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Location of Rio Tinto operations

Diamonds

TiO2 / Iron

GoldBorates

Copper /Gold /

Silver /Molybdenum

CoalGold

TalcCoal

Talc

Iron ore

Borates

Aluminium

Talc

Uranium

Diamonds

TiO2

Copper

GoldGold

DiamondsSalt

Iron ore

Aluminium

Aluminium

Coal

BauxiteCoalAluminaAluminium

Coal

Iron Ore

Uranium

Copper/gold

Zinc, silver and gold

Talc

Iron ore

TiO2

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Biodiversity partnersBiodiversity partners

GLOBAL– BirdLife International – Earthwatch– Fauna & Flora International– Royal Botanic Gardens Kew– UNEP - World Conservation Monitoring Centre– Eden Project – Post Mining Alliance

LOCAL– The Australian Museum– British Trust for Conservation Volunteers– Conservation Volunteers Australia– Conservation International– World Wide Fund For Nature Australia– National Audubon Society

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Rio Tinto Biodiversity Strategy: Development 1997 - 2005

• Partnerships with conservation NGOs from 1997 onwards• Business case paper put to Rio Tinto Board in 2000• Biodiversity activity survey of Rio Tinto carried out in

2001• Strategy development groups operated 2002 – 2004

– Internal Steering Group– External Advisory Panel

• External and internal authors developed drafts in 2003 - 2004

• Wide consultation phase internally and externally 2004• Strategy launched at World Conservation Forum Bangkok

Nov 2004• Implementation, support, reporting 2005 onwards• Ongoing issues – measurement & indicators, offsets

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Rio Tinto biodiversity strategy: Elements

• Position Statement and Principles– Our beliefs and commitments

• Guidance document– Best Practice at all stages

• Case studies– Examples of successful programmes

• Working groups– Continuing collaborative policy and

guidance development on offsets, performance measurement

• Partnership programmes– Implementation support, capacity

building

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Net Positive Impact: the Position Statement and Principles

“Rio Tinto aims to have a net positive impact on biodiversity by minimising the negative impacts of its activities and by making appropriate contributions to conservation in the regions in which it operates.”

• Delivering on this aim will require both impacts and positive actions to be measured

• Initially, the outcomes will be designed and applied to new projects

• This gives us an active interest in the issues surrounding the use of biodiversity offsets

• The diversity of Rio Tinto means that aggregation will require a currency to be established

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Rio Tinto – EarthWatch International BPM Project

Project Aim:

To develop a set of tailored performance measures that will enable Rio Tinto to assess and report progress towards its biodiversity strategy commitment of a ‘Net Positive Impact on Biodiversity’

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Rio Tinto – EarthWatch International BPM ProjectProgress to date

• A collaborative project involving input from a diverse range of internal and external stakeholders

• Review of measurement systems and approaches commissioned and completed (Ecological Solutions, G. Tucker)

• Workshop convened Sept 21-22

• Actioned items identified to carry project forward into 2006

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Rio Tinto – EarthWatch International BPM ProjectKey issues to be resolved

• Identify the audiences for reporting biodiversity results and performance

• Define the sphere of responsibility (geographic & temporal) for Rio Tinto’s primary and secondary impacts

• Identify suitable baselines and establish acceptable background change against which to measure performance

• Define the scale at which to measure performance (global, national, local)

• Set the right currency for collecting and aggregating data

• Develop indicators that meet a variety of criteria including site specificity, simplicity, based on categories

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Indicators: Pressure – State – Response framework

Pressure

StateResponse

MONITOR

ImpactsReduce / manage

Plan and implement

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Indicators: Key Features Methodology

The development of Biodiversity indicators is based around the characterisation of key biodiversity features (taxonomies)

• Species

• Habitats

• Ecosystem features

• Ecosystem services

• Cultural & Social values

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Indicators: Refining Taxonomies

Each key taxonomy will hold intrinsic and service values

Species Habitats Ecosystem Processes

Intrinsic Value 1a. e.g. Extinction, threatened species

2a. e.g. Rare habitats

3a. e.g.Evolutionary diversification

Service Value 1b. e.g. Food, fibre fuel

2b. e.g. Habitat for species of economic significance

3b. e.g. Air quality maintenance

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Conclusions

• Rio Tinto’s biodiversity strategy gives us an interest in the debate on Biodiversity Performance Measures

• Our aim to have a Net Positive Impact on biodiversity will require the selection of indicators and the setting of targets

• We have embarked on an inclusive process involving a wide range of internal and external experts

• We are also contributing to the BPM debate in the conservation community