Rio asks shareholders to vote against emissions resolution
Date: Mar 19, 2019
Rio Tinto said on Monday it would recommend that shareholders vote against a resolution requiring the miner to report its direct emissions and those of its customers in greater detail.
In a notice ahead of its annual general meeting in May, Rio said shareholders should vote against the proposed rule change that would have it set transition plans that adhere to the goals of the Paris Agreement to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 Fahrenheit).
Those plans would include short-, medium- and long-term targets to reduce scope 1, 2 and 3 greenhouse gas emissions, and detailed strategies to meet the targets in each annual report starting from 2020, according to the proposed resolution.
Scope 1 emissions refer to direct emissions from company’s activities, scope 2 emissions are indirect such as from purchased power. Scope 3 emissions are those created by customers of a company’s product.
“Rio Tinto is currently undertaking detailed engineering, economic and policy analysis on an asset-by-asset basis to inform new Scope 1 and 2 emissions reduction targets to replace our existing targets, which expire in 2020,” chairperson Simon Thompson said in a filing to the Australian bourse.
Rio Tinto, which released its own climate change report last month, advised voting against the plan because it was not in control of its customers emissions, and because an analysis it was currently undergoing was based on a different framework.
