Our Statement on Australia’s EPBC Reform

15 October 2024

Rio Tinto is committed to decarbonising its operations and contributing to nature positive outcomes globally.

In Australia, we support reform to the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (EPBC Act). Reform should deliver improved outcomes for Australia’s national environmental and culturally significant places and species, and more efficient and effective approvals processes.

Rio Tinto supports the Australian Government prioritising and progressing reforms to the EPBC Act, given the urgency of finding solutions to nature loss and the impact of climate change.

We are committed to working constructively with government, First Nations peoples, civil society and other stakeholders to achieve these outcomes and delivering reforms which are workable and sustainable for the long term.

In that regard, we support reforms that result in:

• Strong National Environmental Standards (NES) that establish shared goals for nature, provide clear assessment criteria and underpin accreditation of related regulatory processes.

• A nature positive trajectory for Australia, through the NES, including landscape-scale environmental management, and restoration actions.

• Strengthened and independent compliance and enforcement powers, with appropriate governance and guardrails for their use.

• Decision makers upholding the principles of Ecologically Sustainable Development, with overall Ministerial accountability for approvals decisions and consideration of economic and social impacts.

• Reduced complexity and duplication, and increased transparency in approvals processes to facilitate investment certainty and efficiency for decision makers and proponents.

• The creation of a centralised source of reliable environmental data and information that is transparent, accessible and underpins better planning and informed decision-making.

• Improved regionally focused planning and initiatives through collaboration between government bodies, industry, landholders, and Traditional Owners and delineated powers between regulators.

• The transparent disclosure of project climate emissions.

Rio Tinto acknowledges the interdependencies between nature and climate. Rio Tinto also supports development of government climate policy that is aligned with Paris goals and net zero ambitions. Policy settings on climate must balance the need for permitting efficiency that is essential for projects including those that decarbonise our operations or provide the metals and materials required for the energy transition, and support local communities and jobs in regions where we operate.

We will engage with Government around the policy framework required to support Australia’s nationally determined contribution to the global response to climate change.