It’s British-Australian multinational Rio Tinto’s annual shareholder meeting on Wednesday 8th April. We can’t protest it in person, but we can online in solidarity with affected communities.
Why are we doing this, especially during these uncertain times?
We understand that many of you have your own frontlines at the moment, whether that’s as a key worker, as a carer, a volunteer, an organiser or if you’re looking after your or others’ physical or mental wellbeing at this time, sending solidarity to you.
For those of you who might be able to join in, we’re taking action to show the London-listed mining giant that we are watching them and that they can’t use the global pandemic to their advantage, and, most importantly, we’re doing it to make sure that the communities around the world harmed by Rio Tinto are not forgotten. Communities like those in West Papua, Bougainville, Madagascar, Mongolia, New Zealand, Australia and Serbia.
THURSDAY 2nd – THURSDAY 9th APRIL
It doesn’t matter if you have two minutes to spare or a creative half hour, get involved with our online actions.
Thursday 2nd April
– 3 minutes READ Resisting Rio Tinto: Clean up your mess!
Short article explaining why we’re taking action against London-linked mining company Rio Tinto
-2 minutes SOCIAL MEDIA – MONGOLIA
Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, then share this post about Mongolia, where an opencast and underground copper-gold mine is causing devastation in the south Gobi desert.
Friday 3rd April
-6 minutes READ Communities demanding redress from Rio Tinto
Profile of communities affected by Rio Tinto and their demands of the company.
-2 minutes SOCIAL MEDIA – TOXIC LEGACY
Share this post about our Cut and Run report (you could read it too), where we call Rio Tinto out for not cleaning up its mining mess in West Papua and Bougainville.
Saturday 4th April – MADAGASCAR
-7 minutes WATCH How a mine’s biodiversity offset project created controversy in Madagascar
Find out about Rio Tinto’s misguided attempt to make up for ecological damage that its ilmenite mine (used as a whitener in toothpaste and paint) caused.
-2 minutes SOCIAL MEDIA
Share this post about the company’s QMM ilmenite mine, which is contaminating local people’s vital water source with uranium and lead.
Sunday 5th April – BOUGAINVILLE
-30 minutes READ ‘After the mine’ report by LMN partner Human Rights Law Centre Australia about the human rights violations caused by Rio Tinto’s toxic mining legacy.
-2 minutes SOCIAL MEDIA
Share this post about Bougainville (a Pacific island) where Rio Tinto owned a copper-gold mine, Panguna, that was so toxic it sparked a civil war in 1989.
Monday 6th April – UNITED STATES
-2 minutes SOCIAL MEDIA
Share this post about Oak Flat, Arizona, where communities are trying to stop Rio Tinto and another British mining giant BHP from opening a copper mine on a sacred site.
Tuesday 7th April – WEST PAPUA
-2 minutes SOCIAL MEDIA
Share this post about the notorious Grasberg mine in West Papua, which Rio Tinto pulled out of and now believes it has no responsibility for cleaning up its mess.
WEDNESDAY 8th April – ONLINE PROTEST!
Today’s the day of Rio Tinto’s behind closed-doors AGM. We are demanding transparency from the company, so join us online, especially between 11am-1.30pm GMT.
-10 minutes QUESTIONS?
Do you have a question for Rio Tinto? During its Q&A online session we’ll be livetweeting questions made by shareholders of the company, and the executive board’s answers, but if you have a question for the company based on the communities’ demands or about wider issues, ask it! Tag @londonmining and @RioTinto and use the hashtag #questionsforRioTinto and #RioTintoAGM20.
-20 minutes MAKE A POSTER OR VIDEO
-Cho
ose one of the below slogans, write it on a piece of paper/your hand/online and send over a picture or video to us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Or use a meme on this page.
Don’t forget to tag @RioTinto and include hashtags #RioTintoAGM20 and #cleanupyourmess!
- Rio Tinto – clean up your mess!
- Covid-19 pledge? Give communities back their water!
- Panguna mine – not a historical issue, an ongoing human rights disaster!
- Cut and Run: Rio Tinto take responsibility for toxic mining legacy
- Pay reparations to affected communities
- Resolution Copper has no social license!
- Can’t greenwash this
- Rio Tinto – communities call out ‘clean metals’ con
- #QuestionsforRioTinto – where is your social license?
- White teeth? Not at any cost #QMMMadagascar
- No to Rio Tinto’s climate change strategy. We demand climate justice!
- Make use of pots or pans or instruments to make the protest experience more authentic
If you want to make a video, you could:
- Explain why you’re protesting Rio Tinto
- Include quotes from community representatives
- Tell the company that it has a responsibility to the communities devastated by its mining operations, and that we will continue to pressure the company until it meets the demands of those affected
- Explain that reducing carbon emissions is not enough – metal mining devastates communities as much as fossil fuels
Thursday 9th April – DONATE
-5 minutes Please donate to help us continue our work, maybe what you would have spent on travelling to the demo, or the price of a pint, if you can.
–10 minutes CATCH UP
See what has been posted on social media and our website in the aftermath of Rio Tinto’s AGM and congratulate yourself on a job well done! THANK YOU for getting involved, and taking the time to support communities affected by this mining corporation.