Net Zero to Hero? Inside Rio Tinto’s AU $240 Million Partnership with the ANU

By Saffron Geyle and Finn Slattery-O’Brien

On 30 January, 2025, the ANU announced that it formed an academic partnership with British-Australian mining conglomerate Rio Tinto. Based in London, the “Rio Tinto Centre for Future Materials” will include partnerships with several other overseas universities including Imperial College London, University of California, and Berkeley, amongst others. The ANU is the only Australian university to participate in this global partnership, and will serve as “the Australian hub of the Centre”.

The partnership, worth AU $240 million (US $150 million), is stated to constitute research and consultation as Rio Tinto seeks to “transform how materials are sourced, processed, used and recycled so they are more environmentally, economically and socially sustainable”.

The university’s involvement in this partnership is focused on bringing First Nations perspectives to the table in developing renewable energy programs on traditional land in Western Australia, namely the Pilbara. 

The ANU’s First Nations vice-president, Peter Yu, said this would help bring together “societal, Indigenous, environmental, scientific, social scientific, and technological perspectives”.

Vice-Chancellor Genevieve Bell additionally stated that she is proud the university is “bringing a strong First Nations and social sciences perspective to the Centre”.

“In being involved at all levels – from production to policy, to public engagement – ANU will ensure the work of the Centre is leading to a future that is sustainable for the environment, and also equitable to all”. 

A spokesperson for the university stated the university’s pride in its newfound partnership with Rio Tinto “to help Australia and the world meet its critical energy needs in the most sustainable way possible”.

“As the only Australian university involved in this global partnership, ANU will serve as the Australian hub of the Centre and play a leading role in supporting the global energy transition, consistent with our distinct founding mission to shape a better future for Australians and the world”.

Among other renewables projects, a large focus of this partnership is focused on achieving net zero by 2050. Rio Tinto is developing a 600-700 MW solar and wind energy system in the Pilbara. Citing the “ample” sun and night-time winds in the Pilbara, Rio Tinto hopes to be able to power over 160,000 homes. 

However, remoteness and lack of infrastructure means the mining giant has to undertake the challenge of building up a support network in the desert, a challenge in which it has purportedly enlisted the ANU to aid in minimising “impacts on the local environment and community”.

While the university claims it will prioritise First Nations perspectives in mining research, there are doubts about whether the large multinational shares these values.

This is not the first time Rio Tinto has made efforts to consult with First Nations communities. However, following the Juukan Gorge controversy in 2020, there have been some concerns that the multinational corporation, being the world’s second largest metals and mining conglomerate (behind BHP), was not doing nearly enough in this department. 

On 24 May 2020, Rio Tinto headed a project that involved the destruction of Juukan Gorge, a sacred rock shelter of great archaeological significance in the Pilbara region of Western Australia. The mining company received ministerial consent to destroy the site under outdated First Nations heritage laws that were in place in Western Australia at the time, despite the efforts of local First Nations leaders to re-negotiate ministerial assent to the detonation.

In an essay on the incident, history professor Clare Wright stated that “Juukan represents the pinnacle of the colonial mining project”.

“In a matter of minutes, eight million tonnes of ore were ripped from the earth, and with them, 46,000 years of cultural heritage destroyed… For this hefty price we all paid, Rio Tinto lawfully gained access to $135 million dollars of high-grade iron ore”.

Despite Rio Tinto’s controversial history, the ANU is determined in its participation in the research centre. In speaking to Observer, a university spokesperson stated that the partnership will lead to helping “Australia and the world meet its critical energy needs in the most sustainable way possible, while also moving away from our reliance on fossil fuels”.

“Since extraction of these resources will largely happen on First Nations land, the research conducted at ANU will guide policy to ensure Indigenous communities have a meaningful voice in decisions that affect their lands and lives by ensuring cultural knowledge and perspectives are considered and respected”.

In recent years, the ANU has faced growing calls from both staff and students to limit their substantial investment portfolio and divest from fossil fuel and arms corporations, including Northrop Grumman, Woodside and Rio Tinto.

Despite ANU announcing in July 2024 following the Pro-Palestine encampment that it would be launching a review of its investment policy, no further significant changes or announcements have been made.

The current ANU investment policy guidelines state that the university aims to, among other things, “support socially beneficial outcomes” and “achieve a significant reduction in the overall carbon intensity of the investment portfolio”, though it admits this is relative to “industry benchmarks”.

Moreover, it acknowledges that “divestment of assets can have negative unintended consequences” on the portfolio’s profit. These guidelines are not binding or hold the university accountable in any way.

This is especially relevant given Rio Tinto earlier this year paid shareholders their lowest dividend in seven years, and is now focusing on cost-cutting measures for its Australian iron ore mining operations.

It remains to be seen whether ANU’s investment policy will be at all changed by the establishment of this new research centre. 

Graphics by Shé Chani

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