1. 1EarthWatch Institute Workshop, RGS London 11th November 2005 BIODIVERSITY PERFORMANCE MEASURES – Their role in Rio Tinto Dave Richards Principal Adviser, Environment

2. 2EarthWatch 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

3. 3EarthWatch Institute Workshop, RGS London 11th November 2005 Rio Tinto Group  36,000 people, including 6,000 in Joint Ventures  Multiple cultures  20,000 km 2 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”

4. 4EarthWatch Institute Workshop, RGS London 11th November 2005 Location of Rio Tinto operations Diamonds TiO 2 / Iron Gold Borates Copper / Gold / Silver / Molybdenum Coal Gold Talc Coal Talc Iron ore Borates Aluminium Talc Uranium Diamonds TiO 2 Copper Gold Diamonds Salt Iron ore Aluminium Coal Bauxite Coal Alumina Aluminium Coal Iron Ore Uranium Copper/ gold Zinc, silver and gold Talc Iron ore TiO 2

5. 5EarthWatch Institute Workshop, RGS London 11th November 2005 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. 6EarthWatch Institute Workshop, RGS London 11th November 2005 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. 7EarthWatch Institute Workshop, RGS London 11th November 2005 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. 8EarthWatch Institute Workshop, RGS London 11th November 2005 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. 9EarthWatch Institute Workshop, RGS London 11th November 2005 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. 10EarthWatch Institute Workshop, RGS London 11th November 2005 Rio Tinto – EarthWatch International BPM Project Progress 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. 11EarthWatch Institute Workshop, RGS London 11th November 2005 Rio Tinto – EarthWatch International BPM Project Key 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. 12EarthWatch Institute Workshop, RGS London 11th November 2005 Indicators: Pressure – State – Response framework Pressure StateResponse MONITOR ImpactsReduce / manage Plan and implement

13. 13EarthWatch Institute Workshop, RGS London 11th November 2005 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. 14EarthWatch Institute Workshop, RGS London 11th November 2005 Indicators: Refining Taxonomies Each key taxonomy will hold intrinsic and service values SpeciesHabitatsEcosystem Processes Intrinsic Value1a. e.g. Extinction, threatened species 2a. e.g. Rare habitats 3a. e.g.Evolutionary diversification Service Value1b. e.g. Food, fibre fuel 2b. e.g. Habitat for species of economic significance 3b. e.g. Air quality maintenance

15. 15EarthWatch Institute Workshop, RGS London 11th November 2005 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