Mining giant Rio Tinto has sounded an alarm over the long term threat to its core iron ore and high carbon aluminium businesses from climate change, in what is expected to be the first of many more candid statements from resources companies this year.

In its maiden climate change report Rio said it was well placed to deal with an economy in which policymakers strove to limit global temperature rises to 2 degrees above long term averages because it had exited entirely from thermal coal and its portfolio of resources was "naturally hedged" across multiple commodities.