Rio Tinto — Ethics Grade D

Rio Tinto receives an overall ethics grade of D (32/100) on CancelCo's corporate accountability database. Sector: Mining & Metals. Market cap: Large Cap.

Category scores

• labor: 20
• privacy: 85
• consumer: 60
• environment: 25
• humanRights: 15

Documented incidents (3)

• Juukan Gorge Destruction (high, 2020) — Rio Tinto destroyed 46,000-year-old sacred Aboriginal caves in Western Australia to expand an iron ore mine, despite the Puutu Kunti Kurrama and Pinikura people repeatedly stating the sites' cultural significance.
• Systemic Bullying and Racism (high, 2022) — An external review of the company's culture revealed systemic bullying, sexual harassment, and racism. 28% of women reported being sexually harassed and 21% of employees reported systemic bullying.
• Panguna Mine Waste (high, 2021) — A human rights complaint alleged that Rio Tinto was responsible for environmental and human rights violations due to massive quantities of tailings (mine waste) abandoned at the Panguna mine in Papua New Guinea.

Documented good deeds

• Solar & Battery Storage — Investment in the Gudai-Darri solar farm in the Pilbara to reduce the carbon footprint of iron ore operations by 15%.

Ethical alternatives

• Anglo American — Significantly better relations with indigenous communities and stricter sustainability reporting.