Rio Tinto chair Dominic Barton has warned shareholders there’s a giant technological hole holding again the world’s efforts to decarbonise, and that allowing processes aren’t serving to.
Mr Barton, who leads one of many largest mining corporations on this planet, addressed shareholders in London on Thursday at an annual basic assembly.
Ahead of formal proceedings Mr Barton highlighted what he stated could be the “immense” problem of decarbonising the world’s economic system with the extent of know-how accessible at this time.
He stated Rio was “serious about what it takes” to scale back its carbon footprint and the miner was taking motion to ship, however conceded there have been huge challenges forward.
“The challenge of decarbonising the world’s economy and the activities of societies across the world is immense,” he stated.
“There is a large gap between what current technology can deliver and what is needed for the global energy transition.
“This will require a significant research and development effort to find new technologies and better ways of doing things.”
Rio has pledged to scale back its scope one and two emissions by 15 per cent by subsequent yr, 50 per cent by 2030 and hit internet zero by 2050.
The firm has been overtly candid prior to now about local weather targets, with chief government Jakob Stausholm prior to now 12 months saying he regretted setting such aggressive targets in hindsight.
Recent milestones in Rio’s decarbonising mission embrace signing two agreements to purchase 2.2 gigwatts of wind and solar energy for its aluminium property in Queensland.
Electricity makes up about 26 per cent of Rio’s emissions within the Pacific and would due to this fact be important to run on renewables, Mr Barton advised shareholders.
But he stated funding in renewable vitality and infrastructure had been “lagging”, and referencing analysis from the International Energy Agency, stated that $4 trillion would should be spent by the top of the last decade for the world’s vitality system to succeed in internet zero by 2050.
Mr Barton additionally stated that allowing delays, not mining operations themselves, had been one of many greatest obstacles in decreasing emissions.
“We know we need mining to help avert a climate disaster, but this reality is sometimes challenged at a local level. Even where governments are supportive, one of the biggest challenges isn’t the mining operation itself, but the permitting process,” he stated.
Mr Barton drew an anecdote from the World Economic Forum in 2023 when wind turbine producer Vestas Wind Systems stated there was “four times more wind generation capacity caught in permitting delays than under construction in Europe.”
https://thewest.com.au/business/mining/yawning-technology-gap-and-permit-woes-main-hurdles-in-immense-emissions-challenge-rio-chair-warns-c-14192727
