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MainDB: Reappraising "Normal" - Designing to Weather, Climate, and Climate Change

Title

Reappraising "Normal" - Designing to Weather, Climate, and Climate Change

NWPWeblink

 

NWPTypeOfOrganization

Private sector

NWPGeographicRegion

Africa; Asia; Caribbean and Central America; Europe; North America; Pacific/Oceania; Polar regions; South America

Scope of work

 

NWPMandatesandFrameworks

 

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Good practices and lessons learned

 

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Date of submission

 

Abbreviation

 

Activities

 

Adaptation element

Impact assessment; Science and research

Adaptation sector/theme

Water resources; Disaster risk reduction

Climate hazard

Drought; Floods

Country

Australia

NWPDataSource

PSI

Description

Rio Tinto is a leading international mining group, whose major products include iron ore, aluminum, copper, diamonds, energy products, gold, and industrial minerals. Its activities span the world but are strongly represented in Australia, North America and Europe. 

Rio Tinto’s chief climate change concerns are about water: either having too much (floods) or too little (drought). While Rio Tinto does not ascribe any individual weather event to climate change, it believes the more extreme events it experiences could occur more frequently. In addition, Rio Tinto is concerned with reports that climate change will induce deeper and/or more frequent droughts. Partly as a result, it has developed a strong water strategy to respond to various aspects of droughts and floods. 

Rio Tinto’s interest in adaptation was first motivated by an internal climate change risk assessment undertaken in 2002. Rio Tinto was already engaged in climate change policy and emissions abatement work, and an evaluation of potential climate impacts seemed a natural extension. The company’s first adaptation study was a review using the IPCC’s Third Assessment Report (TAR), knowledge of Rio Tinto operations, and phone interviews with site managers to identify the types of climatic variables that would be important to Rio Tinto’s diverse businesses. The study looked at actual impacts of weather events and predicted climate changes described by the TAR. The order of magnitude scoping study concluded that— broadly defined— changes in climate could be important and should be considered more deeply. 

Rio Tinto followed up with a second study that focused on the implications of climatic changes at a finer spatial detail using data provided by the Hadley Center for Climate Change in the UK. This study demonstrated how climate variables might change over the next 25 to 50 years in the geographic regions where Rio Tinto has mining interests, or relies on supporting infrastructure and services, such as electricity supply, water, shipping lanes, and roads. 

Rio Tinto concluded from these studies that regions in which it operates will experience changed climate regimes. In the near term the changes are minimal, but are expected to increase over the longer term. Consequent impacts to its businesses are likely to occur gradually, allowing time for operations to learn and adapt. 

Rio Tinto has also undertaken very detailed site assessments for many of its higher priority sites. The sites have been selected based on their remaining life, prospective developments and expansions, and their location in climate sensitive parts of the world. The assessments are underpinned by high-resolution climate modeling (down to 20 kilometer by 20 kilometer grids), which are able to provide some indication of changes in cyclonic activity and topographic effects. 

Rio Tinto has experienced three headline weather events over the past few years in Australia (flooding and droughts) that have reinforced the need for the company’s adaptation work.

Expected outcome

By understanding climate projections for the areas in which it operates and assessing its vulnerabilities, Rio Tinto can begin to determine which adaptation measures are cost-effective to undertake and when. Rio Tinto’s vulnerability assessment effort has a clear cost-benefit as it identifies and mitigates risks and exploits opportunities arising from current and future climate change impacts.

Further information

For further information go to: http://www.riotinto.com/

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NWPInformationType

Case study

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NWPPartner

Rio Tinto

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​Rio Tinto concluded from these studies that regions in which it operates will experience changed climate regimes. In the near term the changes are minimal, but are expected to increase over the longer term. Consequent impacts to its businesses are likely to occur gradually, allowing time for operations to learn and adapt. The work also indicated that building and engineering codes and standards have been slow to incorporate climate change risks. The studies indicated that, properly applied, current standards would provide adequate protection to weather events and so major upgrades of existing structures would not be required in the short to medium term. Over the longer term, Rio Tinto’s exposure to climate risk is likely to vary by location. North American assets, for example, appear less vulnerable than those in the southern Hemisphere, where increased intensity of cyclones and drier conditions are both predicted.

This work is now being followed up with very detailed site assessments for many of Rio Tinto’s higher priority sites. The sites have been selected based on their remaining life, prospective developments and expansions, and their location in climate sensitive parts of the world. The assessments are underpinned by high resolution climate modeling (down to 20 kilometer by 20 kilometer grids), which are able to provide some indication of changes in cyclonic activity and topographic effects.

Rio Tinto has learned much about climate-related impacts. The chief issues are about water: either having too much (floods) or too little (drought). While Rio Tinto does not ascribe any individual weather event to climate change, it believes the more extreme events it experiences could occur more frequently. In addition, Rio Tinto is concerned with reports that climate change will induce deeper and/or more frequent droughts. Partly as a result, it has developed a strong water strategy to respond to various aspects of droughts and floods.​

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NWPReferences

Case Studies and Tools: A Systematic Review of the Literature on Business Adaptation to Climate Change (Network for Business Sustainability): 
Adapting to Climate Change: A Business Approach (Pew Center on Global Climate Change): http://www.pewtrusts.org/en/research-and-analysis/reports/2008/04/16/adapting-to-climate-change-a-business-approach

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Attachments

Content Type: NWPSearchableItem
Created at 21/04/2016 11:45 by Roberto Felix
Last modified at 16/05/2022 16:27 by Nicholas Hamp-Adams