The Australian ETI promotes mitigative action against carbon emissions in ‘hard-to-abate’ sectors, such as iron and steel; aluminium; LNG; other metals, including copper, nickel, lithium; and chemicals, such as fertilisers and explosives.

Rio Tinto Australia chief executive Kellie Parker said the company’s involvement was very important for the Initiative.

“To decarbonise our operations and supply chains, and meet our climate goals, we will need to continue to partner with a wide range of stakeholders, including industry, finance and government,” Parker said.

“With large operations on both sides of the country, we support the aims of the Australian Industry ETI and hope the collaboration and sharing of ideas can help accelerate the reduction of industry emissions.”

Rio Tinto became the 14th major company to join the initiative, with all partners now representing 24 per cent of the ASX100’s market value and 21 per cent of Australian industrial emissions.

These partners include BHP, Fortescue Metals Group, Orica, BP Australia and BlueScope Steel.

ARENA is organised by the federal government, and chief executive officer Darren Miller said he hoped the Australian Industry ETI could continue to grow with the $2 million grant.

“ARENA is proud to be supporting this initiative which will build momentum and give industry confidence they will benefit from a low-carbon Australian economy,” Miller said.

“It is exciting to see more industry partners signing on to the initiative so we can all collaborate, harness industry knowledge and identify pathways to net zero.”

ARENA has previously provided $300,000 to ClimateWorks who co-founded the ETI with Climate-KIC and the global Energy Transitions Commission.

ClimateWorks chief executive officer Anna Skarbek said the goals of the Australian Industry ETI were complex and required as many companies and funds as possible.

“Getting to net-zero in the complex supply chains within these hard-to-abate sectors involves transformational solutions that are more than a single organisation can achieve alone, as it requires simultaneous shifts of finance, investment and service providers,” Skarbek said.

The Australian Industry ETI also welcomed banking company HSBC, and research provider BloombergNEF who will join similar providers such as the CSIRO and Rocky Mountain Institute.