‘No’ vote urged on BHP’s climate plan

PROXY adviser CGI Glass Lewis has recommended that BHP shareholders vote against the company’s climate transition action plan, saying it’s unclear if the targets are sciencebased or certified by outside organisations.

While the firm acknowledged in its report that the plan had some strengths, it said there might be “some room for improvement”.

“We are not convinced that support for this resolution is warranted at this time,” the report said. “Accordingly, we believe that further engagement with shareholders on these topics could be beneficial and that shareholders should vote against this proposal,” it said.

Shareholders will vote on BHP’s climate transition action plan, released earlier this month, at the resources giant’s October 14 annual meeting.

In the plan, the company set a net zero emissions target by 2050 for both its direct suppliers and shippers of its products, but did not extend the goal to its steelmaking customers.

BHP plans to slash 2030 emissions by 30 per cent from 2020 levels on a path to net zero emissions by 2050.