Access to Resources: People, Land, Capital

This annual Review is intended to provide a summary of our social, environmental and economic programmes and results for 2006, and it identifies the challenges and opportunities for the future. A fuller account is available on the Rio Tinto website: www.riotinto.com

This year’s Review is drawn up in-line with the Global Reporting Initiative’s new generation (G3) guidelines. In accordance with those guidelines, we declare that the Review, in conjunction with our on-line report, is aligned with Application Level A+. 

Employing the “materiality principle” of this requirement, we have, for example, included commentary on non managed operations, such as the Grasberg copper mine, where we have a significant financial interest. 

Another innovation is our use of a panel of external stakeholders, who helped by reading and commenting on the document in draft. The panel will also help us improve future reports. 

The independent consulting firm, Environmental Resources Management (ERM), was used to verify the health, safety and environment (HSE) data used for this Review. A statement from ERM, as well as our response to last year’s external assurance and verification recommendations, appears on pages 34-36. 

Rio Tinto is a founding member of the International Council on Mining and Metals (ICMM), a body that provides sustainable development leadership for the industry. As a member of ICMM, we are committed to superior business practices in sustainable development. We have committed to implement the ICMM Sustainable Development Framework and comply with policy statements of the ICMM.