In accordance with IUCN's Operational Guidelines for Private Sector Engagement (2006), such agreements with business entities "…should be subjected to risk assessment and due diligence in order to determine the appropriateness of engagement with a private sector entity…".

The results of the Due Diligence performed on the Rio Tinto Group clearly illustrate that a partnership with Rio Tinto would be warranted on several fronts touched on in the 2006 Operational Guidelines for Private Sector Engagement - "…businesses within sectors where change is important and / or likely, due to the scale of their impacts…", "businesses within sectors with an internal willingness or an external perceived need to effect change", and "...their demonstrated engagement with other conservation and development organisations and initiatives". The full Due Diligence report is available here.