BIODIVERSITY PERFORMANCE MEASURES – Their role in Rio Tinto

1. BIODIVERSITY PERFORMANCE MEASURES – Their role in Rio Tinto Dave Richards Principal Adviser, Environment

2. 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

3. 6 “Product Groups” 20 Countries 54 Mining Operations 12 Smelting/Refining Operations 23 Other Facilities and Development Projects Exploration and Technology Rio Tinto Group • 36,000 people, including 6,000 in Joint Ventures • Multiple cultures • 20,000 km2 of land, only 7% ‘needed’ for mining

4. Location of Rio Tinto operations Diamonds Aluminium Talc Zinc, silver and gold Coal TiO2 / Iron Iron Ore Talc Talc Gold Coal Borates Gold Copper / Gold / Silver / Molybdenum Iron ore Gold Diamonds Gold Uranium Bauxite Diamonds Coal Alumina Aluminium Iron ore Salt Uranium Coal Iron ore TiO2 Talc Copper Coal Copper/ gold Aluminium TiO2 Aluminium Borates

5. Biodiversity 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

6. 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

7. 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

8. 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

9. 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’

10. 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

11. 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

12. Pressure Reduce / manage Impacts MONITOR Response State Plan and implement Indicators: Pressure – State – Response framework

13. 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

14. Indicators: Refining TaxonomiesEach key taxonomy will hold intrinsic and service values

15. 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