The Cost of Rio Tinto Profits
Investors must pay attention to the mining major’s negative social and environmental impacts, argues Julio Castor Achmadi, Communities Associate at Accountability Counsel.
As efforts to address climate change move forward at breakneck speed, there’s no denying it’s a profitable time to be in the critical minerals business. Yet ironically, critical mineral mines have continuously brought destruction to both people and the environment. This is in direct opposition of the climate goals driving the sector’s growth.
The reality is that mining for lithium, copper, cobalt, and nickel – which are deemed essential to produce green technologies like electric vehicles and solar panels – could increase fourfold by 2030. Rio Tinto, the world’s second largest mining and metals company, has been one major beneficiary of this push, last year bringing in over US$53 billion in revenue.
The mining major’s investors, though, should not be celebrating. These profits have come at the expense of an extremely problematic pattern: its mines have repeatedly caused water contamination issues in the local ecosystems that surround them. Yet one of the main underlying goals of the critical minerals mining push is to ultimately help the environment. Even worse, Rio Tinto has failed to address these issues with its mines, or even communicate transparently with key stakeholders around them.
Read the full article on ESG Investor here.