BHP tackles climate change
BHP has unveiled a five-year plan to spend US$400 million on measures to address climate change, while allying salaries for the group’s executives closer to meeting environmental targets.
The Climate Investment Program will develop technologies to reduce emissions from BHP’s own operations as well as those generated from the use of its resources.
Outlining the Big Australian’s goals in London last week, group chief executive Andrew Mackenzie said the program, over the next five years, would scale up low carbon technologies critical to the decarbonisation of our operations.
“It will drive investment in nature-based solutions and encourage further collective action on scope three emissions,” he said.
“Commercial success of these investments will breed ambition and create more innovative partnerships to respond collectively to the climate challenge.”
Mr Mackenzie said BHP had to take a product stewardship role across its value chain and commit to work with shippers, processors and users of its products to reduce emissions.
Other measures announced include: • Establishing a new medium-term, science-based target for scope one and two emissions in line with the Paris Agreement. This is in addition to BHP’s short-term goal to cap 2022 emissions at 2017 levels, and long-term goal of net-zero emissions by midcentury.
• Developing a new climate portfolio analysis report in 2020, following on from BHP’s 2015 two degree scenario analysis. This new report will evaluate the potential impacts of a broader range of scenarios and a transition to a ‘ well below’ two degree world.
• Strengthening the link between emissions performance and executive remuneration. From 2021, this link will be clarified to further reinforce the strategic importance and responsibility of reducing emissions as a business.
Mr Mackenzie criticised environmentally conscious investors who pulled funds from miners and other resource companies, describing it as “simplistic”, “fundamentally wrong” and potentially damaging.
“It may be uncomfortable for some, but many solutions to global warming — such as the increased electrification of transport — will require more mined resources rather than less,” he said.
“Electric motors contain 80 per cent more copper than an internal combustion engine. That is why we must change the current storyline around easy, single solutions and acknowledge that there are many competing perspectives that must be taken into account.”
His comments come as the miner prepares to extend the limits of its Pilbara iron ore operations, reporting recently that it would target production of between 273mt and 286mt this financial year, an increase from 2019 production figures of 270mt.