Rio Tinto has defended its decision not to strip long-term bonuses from three executives, including the chief executive, who left the company following a community and shareholder backlash after the miner blew up 46,00-year-old rock shelters at Juukan Gorge in the Pilbara. In a bid to stem shareholder anger, executives at the company will now earn part of their pay based on the company’s compliance with environmental, social and governance issues. The then chief executive, Jean-Sebastien Jacques, iron ore head, Chris Salisbury, and corporate affairs boss, Simone Niven, left the company in September. The three executives forfeited their short-term bonuses – worth more than £1.7m in Jacques’s case – and an additional £1m was stripped from Jacques’s long-term bonus, Laidlaw said. “The work we have to do at Juukan Gorge is beyond the remediation of the site,” Thompson said.

Source: The Guardian May 06, 2021 10:07 UTC