Rio Tinto is refusing to set any targets for reducing the carbon emissions generated by its iron ore customers, taking a firm stance on an issue that’s quickly dividing the natural resources industry.
Instead, the mining company put the focus on its own operations. In a presentation on Wednesday accompanying its full-year earnings, Rio said its own business will be carbon neutral by 2050 and promised to spend $1-billion over the next five years to make that happen.
The announcement draws a sharp line between Rio and other extraction companies amid a debate about who bears responsibility for Scope 3 emissions — the pollution created when customers burn or process a company’s raw materials.
Unlike all its major rivals, Rio doesn’t mine carbon in the form of coal, oil or gas. But it has huge iron-ore operations that create the vital ingredient for steelmaking, a highly polluting industry that involves adding coking coal to make carbon steel.