NEWS RELEASE

Trees, Water & People Wins US$1 Million Rio Tinto Prize for Sustainability

FORT COLLINS, CO - Trees, Water & People (TWP), based in Colorado and working in Central America, Haiti and the American West, has been announced as the 2008 winner of the US$1 million Rio Tinto Prize for Sustainability.

Co-founder and International Director of TWP, Stuart Conway, was delighted to accept the Prize at the 2009 International Economic Forum of the Americas (Conference de Montreal) in Montreal on June 9th.

“We are absolutely thankful, delighted and overwhelmed with gratitude at being announced the 2008 Prize winner. We now have the opportunity to expand our community reforestation and improved cook stove programs in Honduras, Nicaragua, and Haiti. In particular, we will look to use the Prize to leverage additional sources of funding, and increasingly share the work we are doing with other interested organizations,” he said.

Rio Tinto global head of Health, Safety & Environment Elaine Dorward-King said the Rio Tinto Prize for Sustainability was designed to recognise and reward not-for-profit, civil society and non-government organizations for significant contributions to the goals of economic, environmental and social sustainability.

“We congratulate Trees, Water & People co-founders Stuart Conway and Richard Fox, employees and all Trees, Water & People partner organizations and networks on being awarded the 2008 Prize. To win this international award is a real achievement and testament to the work that Trees, Water & People is doing on the ground to balance today’s needs with those of future generations,” she said.

Rio Tinto partners with the International Business Leaders Forum (IBLF) to facilitate an inclusive, rigorous and transparent management process for the award of the Prize. IBLF engages independent sustainability experts from around the world to ensure the process and decisions are made in an objective and consistent manner. Rio Tinto does not participate in the assessment process.

IBLF chief executive Adam Leach said the diversity of the organizations short listed for the Prize in 2008 demonstrated the diversity of work being undertaken locally throughout the world to contribute to global sustainable development.

“All ten short listed organizations in 2008 highlighted the depth and range of talent, initiative and skills that exist in the civil sector,” he added.

About Trees, Water & People

Trees, Water & People (TWP) is a non-profit organization founded in 1998. They develop and manage community reforestation, watershed protection, renewable energy, environmental education, and carbon offset programs in countries including Honduras, Nicaragua, El Salvador, Guatemala, Haiti, and the United States. More information about Trees, Water & People can be found at www.treeswaterpeople.org.

About Rio Tinto

Rio Tinto is a leading international mining group headquartered in the UK, combining Rio Tinto plc, a London and NYSE listed public company, and Rio Tinto Limited, which is a public company listed on the Australian Securities Exchange. Rio Tinto's business is finding, mining, and processing mineral resources. Major products are aluminium, copper, diamonds, energy (coal and uranium), gold, industrial minerals (borax, titanium dioxide, salt, talc) and iron ore. Activities span the world but are strongly represented in Australia and North America with significant businesses in South America, Asia, Europe and southern Africa.

About International Business Leaders Forum

The International Business Leaders Forum (IBLF) is an independent, not-for-profit organization which works with business, governments and civil society to enhance the contribution that companies can make to sustainable development. Since 1990, IBLF has worked in over 90 countries. Current areas of work include raising sustainable business standards, improving prospects for enterprise and employment, and enabling companies to contribute to health and human development issues. IBLF provides strategic counsel to companies to enable them to understand and respond to the development challenges that they face, particularly when operating in transition and emerging economies.

For further information, please contact:

Trees, Water & People
Heather Herrell, Development Director
Phone: (970) 484-3678
Email: Heather@treeswaterpeople.org
Website: www.treeswaterpeople.org

Rio Tinto Prize for Sustainability
Leesa Muirhead
Mobile: +44 (0) 7901 510 701
Email: Leesa.Muirhead@iblf.org
Website: www.iblf.org

Email: riotintoprize@iblf.org
Website: www.riotintoprizeforsustainability.com
High resolution photographs available upon request.