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IUCN, Rio Tinto Partner for Enhanced Sustainable Development
Jul. 16, 2010 IUCN (The International Union for Conservation of Nature) and Rio Tinto have entered into a formal collaboration agreement.
The three-year relationship aims to help Rio Tinto strengthen its sustainable development efforts, environmental management, and delivery of conservation outcomes; IUCN will increase its awareness and understanding of the conservation and business challenges facing the resources sector.
"IUCN and Rio Tinto recognize that to find sustainable solutions to environmental and conservation challenges, cross-sector engagement and collaboration are critical," said Director General of IUCN Julia Marton-Lefèvre. "IUCN engages broadly with leaders in the private sector about business's impact on the environment, as it believes if business is part of a problem it must also contribute to finding and delivering the solutions."
Rio Tinto’s Chief Executive Officer Tom Albanese said, "We look forward to working with IUCN and developing innovative solutions to biodiversity and other sustainable development issues that are an important component of our operations. Through our collaborative efforts, we hope to develop programs and actions that will contribute to enhanced environmental performance—both for Rio Tinto and the broader resources sector."
The relationship will focus on further developing Rio Tinto's biodiversity programs, explore emerging green markets and how they relate to Rio Tinto and the mining sector, and build benchmarks for biodiversity management.