Rio Tinto joins the Australian Industry Energy Transition Initiative to cut carbon emissions in hard-to-abate sectors

Rio Tinto has joined the Australian Industry Energy Transition Initiative (ETI)  to reduce emissions in hard-to-abate sectors. The Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) has also awarded $2 million grant to the initiative.

The initiative aims to reduce emissions in ‘hard-to-abate’ sectors, such as iron and steel; aluminium; LNG; other metals, including copper, nickel, lithium; and chemicals, such as fertilisers and explosives.

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Rio Tinto Australia chief executive Kellie Parker said, “To decarbonise our operations and supply chains, and meet our climate goals, we will need to continue to partner with a wide range of stakeholders, including industry, finance and government.”

“With large operations on both sides of the country, we support the aims of the Australian Industry ETI and hope the collaboration and sharing of ideas can help accelerate the reduction of industry emissions.”

Rio Tinto became the 14th major company to join the initiative. The initiative involves companies from from BHP to Woodside, BlueScope Steel, BP Australia, Fortescue Metals Group, Australian Gas Infrastructure Group, Wesfarmers Chemicals, Energy and Fertilisers, Aurecon, AustralianSuper, Cbus, National Australia Bank, Schneider Electric and HSBC. The participants represent 21 per cent of Australian industrial emissions.

ARENA CEO Darren Miller  said, “ARENA is proud to be supporting this initiative which will build momentum and give industry confidence they will benefit from a low-carbon Australian economy.”

“It is exciting to see more industry partners signing on to the initiative so we can all collaborate, harness industry knowledge and identify pathways to net zero.”

ARENA has already given $300,000 to ClimateWorks who co-founded the ETI with Climate-KIC and the global Energy Transitions Commission.

ClimateWorks chief executive officer Anna Skarbek said, “Getting to net-zero in the complex supply chains within these hard-to-abate sectors involves transformational solutions that are more than a single organisation can achieve alone, as it requires simultaneous shifts of finance, investment and service providers.”