Finding better ways to provide the materials the world needs
Purpose & Values
The drive for innovation and continuous improvement is at the heart of our purpose
Business Strategy
Climate change is at the heart of our business strategy
Innovation
Finding better ways to do things is in our DNA
We supply the metals and minerals used to help the world grow and decarbonise
Iron Ore
The primary raw material used to make steel, which is strong, long-lasting and cost-efficient
Lithium
The lightest of all metals, it is a key element needed for low-carbon technologies
Copper
Tough but malleable, corrosion-resistant and recyclable, and an excellent conductor of heat and transmitter of electricity
Bringing to market materials critical to urbanisation and the transition to a low-carbon economy
Oyu Tolgoi
One of the most modern, safe and sustainable operations in the world
Rincon Project
A long-life, low-cost and low-carbon lithium source
Simandou Project
The world’s largest untapped high-grade iron ore deposit
Providing materials the world needs in a responsible way
Climate Change
We’re targeting net zero emissions by 2050
Tailings
Details of our tailings facilities can be found on our interactive tailings disclosure map
Nature solutions
Our nature-based solutions projects complement the work we're doing to reduce our Scope 1 and 2 emissions
We aim to deliver superior returns to our shareholders while safeguarding the environment and meeting our obligations to wider society
Acquisition of Arcadium Lithium
Bringing our scale, development capabilities and financial strength to the Arcadium Lithium portfolio
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Things you can't live without
Our podcast discussing what needs to happen to create a sustainable future for the everyday items we have come to rely on
The 'f' word of innovation
How unlocking innovation requires a change of mindset
Reducing titanium oxide's carbon footprint
Our BlueSmelting technology could drastically reduce carbon emissions during ore processing
Discover more about life at Rio Tinto
Graduates and students
If you want to drive real change, we have just the place to do it
Empowering families with flexibility
Supporting new parents of any gender with equal access to parental leave
Available jobs
Join our team
Maritime shipping underpins 90% of world trade. It’s the nexus connecting mining companies and our raw materials with manufacturers, who create and ship products to retailers and consumers, making our modern lives possible.
But it’s also responsible for around one billion tonnes of CO2 emissions annually, accounting for nearly 3% of global carbon emissions. As consumers become ever-more conscious of purchasing low-carbon products, and demand for international goods continues to rise, the global maritime industry faces a significant challenge to quickly decarbonise.
As the largest dry bulk shipper in the world, we’re uniquely positioned to reduce overall maritime emissions. We own 17 ships and charter 230 vessels, moving around 315 million tonnes of raw materials across 2,700 voyages every year.
We’re already making progress. We’ve delivered 30% out of the 40% International Maritime Organization (IMO) targets required by 2030 (from 2008 baseline), and we aim to achieve the full 40% reduction by 2025.
And we’re working harder and smarter than ever before to achieve our company-wide goal of net zero emissions from our operations by 2050.
Replacing current fuels with new zero-emissions fuels may seem like the easiest way to reduce maritime emissions. But such fuels aren’t yet available in commercial quantities, making them significantly more expensive and less accessible.
So until they become viable, we can reduce emissions faster by ensuring our ships use less fuel in the first place.
We’ve already reduced the intensity of our fuel use across our owned and time-chartered fleet by 30% from an International Maritime Organization 2008 baseline. We’re achieving this by using more efficient vessels, weather routing and schedule optimisation, which we anticipate will help us exceed the International Maritime Organization’s 2030 targets to achieve a 40% reduction by 2025.
Through to 2024, we’ll also be modifying our owned vessels to further reduce emissions by 10% or more on our owned fleet – applying high-performance paints to ships' hulls to reduce friction, modifying propellers, and integrating swirl ducts that enhance water inflow to the propellers.
To further improve our fleet’s efficiency, we’ve invited and received over 70 submissions from technology companies, research institutions and others to collaborate with us to boost efficiency. We’re partnering with the Maersk Mc-Kinney Moller Center for Zero Carbon Shipping to conduct technical reviews on shortlisted submissions, and will be installing and testing the most promising ones as part of a laboratory concept on two of our owned vessels in 2023. We also intend to openly share our findings, so the broader maritime industry can apply these insights to reduce overall industry emissions.
It may still be years before long-term green shipping fuels are commercially viable or accessible. But in the meantime, we’re pursuing “transitional” fuels, which create lower carbon emissions than traditional marine fuels.
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We recently signed a 5-year charter contract for nine Newcastlemax dual-fuel vessels, which can operate on both liquefied natural gas (LNG) and conventional marine fuel, and will be delivered from the first half of 2023.
Together with bp, we’ve also started one of the maritime industry’s longest trials of biofuel. Our RTM Tasman vessel, a 205,432 deadweight tonnage bulker that plies the Transatlantic and Atlantic Pacific routes carrying iron ore from Canada, will trial biofuel at 30% blend with very low sulphur fuel oil (VLSFO) for a year.
Neither LNG nor biofuel blends are carbon free. But LNG delivers a 15–20% carbon reduction on marine diesel while eliminating a lot of the particulates associated with traditional fuel consumption. Our biofuel blend offers a 26% reduction, and while procuring sustainable feedstock for biofuels or affordable LNG can be challenging, these fuels remain an important part of the carbon-reducing mix.
While we’re committed to moving quickly to a carbon-free future, we can’t do it alone.
The collective challenge for the industry, across the whole supply chain, is to state ambitions, partner, and provide access to incentives supporting the transition. Prioritisation and private-public partnerships will play an essential role in achieving net-zero shipping.
We’re working towards this in a few different ways. After participating in a joint study framework of ammonia as a maritime fuel – with 34 partners and led by ITOCHU Corporation in 2021 – we’ve partnered with ITOCHU, K-Line, NS United and Nihon Shipyard to develop an ammonia-fuelled vessel design and ammonia supply chain.
We’ve also joined a consortium led by the Global Maritime Forum to study the development of the ammonia powered Australia-East Asia iron ore Green Corridor, one of the largest global shipping routes. In bringing shippers, fuel suppliers, shipping companies, ports and governments to share their perspectives and knowledge, we hope to set clear objectives and a timeline to develop a cost-competitive corridor.
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With the exception of the use of cookies, Rio Tinto generally does not seek to collect personal data through this website. However if you choose to provide personal data to Rio Tinto through this website (for example, by sending us an email), we will process that personal data to answer your query and if relevant, to manage our business relationship with you or your company. We won't process that personal data for other purposes except where required to meet our legal obligations or otherwise as authorised by law and notified to you.
If you choose to subscribe to our media releases or other communications, you can unsubscribe at any time (by following the instructions in the email or by contacting us).
With your consent, our website uses cookies to distinguish you from other users of our website. This helps us to provide you with a good experience when you browse our website and also allows us to improve our site. A cookie is a small file of letters and numbers that we store on your browser or the hard drive of your computer if you agree. Cookies contain information that is transferred to your computer's hard drive.
As some data privacy laws regulate IP addresses and other information collected through the use of cookies as personal data, Rio Tinto’s processing of such personal data needs to comply with its Data Privacy Standard (see Part 1 of our Privacy Policy), and also applicable data privacy laws.
With the exception of the use of cookies (explained below), Rio Tinto generally does not seek to collect personal data through this website. However if you choose to provide personal data to Rio Tinto through this website (for example, by sending us an email), we will process that personal data to answer your query and if relevant, to manage our business relationship with you or your company. We won't process that personal data for other purposes except where required to meet our legal obligations or otherwise as authorised by law and notified to you.
Part 1 of this Privacy Policy contains the Rio Tinto Data Privacy Standard, which provides an overview of Rio Tinto’s approach to personal data processing. There is additional information in the appendices to the Data Privacy Standard, including information about disclosures, trans-border data transfers, the exercise of data subject rights and how to make complaints or obtain further information relating to Rio Tinto’s processing of your personal data.
If you choose to subscribe to our media releases or other communications, you can unsubscribe at any time (by following the instructions in the email or by contacting us at digital.comms@riotinto.com).
With your consent, our website uses cookies to distinguish you from other users of our website. This helps us to provide you with a good experience when you browse our website and also allows us to improve our site.
A cookie is a small file of letters and numbers that we store on your browser or the hard drive of your computer if you agree. Cookies contain information that is transferred to your computer's hard drive.
As some data privacy laws regulate IP addresses and other information collected through the use of cookies as personal data, Rio Tinto’s processing of such personal data needs to comply with its Data Privacy Standard (see Part 1 of this Privacy Policy), and also applicable data privacy laws.
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