Rio Tinto: Reviving the Ser bian lithium project

Session, highlighted the sector's vulnerability in the aftermath of the COVID-19 epidemic, as well as the ongoing effects of climate change and extreme weather occurrences. He noted that tourism-related carbon dioxide emissions are expected to rise by 25% by 2030 compared to 2016, making it "essential" to strengthen climate change action.

"During the global pandemic, the tourism sector lost an estimated 62 million jobs," he stated. "COVID-19 demonstrated the sector's vulnerability to pandemics as well as the consequences of harsh weather."

"Addressing climate change is fundamental to establishing a more resilient tourism business, and there is no sustainability without resilience." To ensure long-term sector resilience for people and the earth, we must work together to put sustainable and resilient tourism at the center of inclusive recovery.

"Only by working together can we secure a better and more resilient future for the millions of people who rely on tourism around the world." The impacts of the pandemic, according to Al-Khateeb, have emphasized the necessity to ensure the tourism sector's future, as well as the need to protect the environment.

In line with the country's Vision 2030 development and diversification plan, Saudi officials have undertaken several biodiversity and conservation efforts aimed at breeding and protecting endangered species.

By the end of the decade, the Kingdom hopes to have protected an amount of land 11 times the size of Belgium and 20% of its land, coastal, and marine habitats.

The project will repair 200 million hectares of degraded land in cooperation with the Middle East Green Initiative, which will see 40 billion trees planted across the region. This represents 5% of a global goal of 1 trillion trees planted.

Rio Tinto: Reviving the Serbian lithium project

Rio Tinto's chief executive and chairman said the business is keen to reopen talks with the Serbian government regarding the $2.4 billion Jadar lithium project, which was halted ahead of the country's recent election. After huge protests triggered by environmental concerns about the planned mine, the Serbian government canceled licenses for the Jadar project in January.

"We very much hope that now that the elections are done, we will be able to explore all of the alternatives with the government of Serbia," Thompson said at Rio Tinto's Australian annual meeting, in the company's first public comments following the Serbian election. Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic was re-elected by a large margin in April, but his party could not form its own cabinet.

According to Thompson, the Jadar project, which could supply 90 percent of Europe's current lithium needs, is "very important for Serbia" because it could boost the country's economic output and provide opportunities for the development of a downstream business to supply green technology to the European automotive market.

Jakob Stausholm, the company's CEO, said its intentions to become a lithium producer are still on track, with the Rincon project in Argentina, which it bought in December, a priority. "But we haven't given up on Jadar," Stausholm told reporters after the annual meeting. "Quite frankly, it's a great initiative." He called the project's environmental, social, and governance credentials "impeccable."

According to Serbian regulations, the business could not share its environmental and social impact evaluation of the project until it had received official clearance, which Thompson claims caused falsehoods about the proposal to circulate ahead of the election. "We absolutely appreciate the worries of the local community," Thompson said, "but we believe that the environmental and impact evaluations that we have conducted have substantially addressed those issues."

Rio Tinto is acutely aware of community concerns following public outrage over the destruction of 46,000-year-old caves in Western Australia for an iron ore mine, a calamity that caused Thompson to resign.