BHP at odds with nation’s peak mining group over its lack of support for climate change policy

BHP Billiton says it will leave the nation’s peak mining group if it continues to push policies that prioritise energy security and affordability over tackling climate change.

BHP Billiton says it will leave the nation’s peak mining group if it continues to push policies that prioritise energy security and affordability over tackling climate change.

The mining titan is pulling out of the World Coal Association and is reviewing its membership of the US Chamber of Commerce, given their different stances on issues such as putting a price on carbon dioxide emissions and the need to limit global warming to 2C.

BHP yesterday said it would remain a member of the powerful Minerals Council of Australia and chip in $1.85 million a year to fund it, despite having different views on energy policy and how to respond to climate change.

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The Melbourne-based miner has come under pressure from ethical investment and environmental advocacy groups to stop funding resource industry bodies that they say are trying to prevent action on climate change.

At BHP’s annual meetings in London and Melbourne in recent months, the Australasian Centre for Corporate Responsibility successfully added a resolution calling on the miner to drop its Minerals Council membership.

While the resolution was not approved by share-holders, it did prompt BHP to review its membership of industry associations and highlight policy differences.

Releasing the review yesterday, BHP said it had been troubled by the Minerals Council advocating for energy policies that prioritised reliability and affordability over goals such as emissions reduction. BHP’s stance is that energy security, affordability and emissions reduction should be given equal weight.

The mining heavyweight also said it disagreed with the Minerals Council’s move to push particular energy sources, such as when it threw its weight behind building so-called high-efficiency, low-emission, coal-fired power stations in Australia.

BHP said it supported a “technology neutral” approach and energy markets “should not artificially favour one type of technology over another”.

Despite the differences, BHP said it would remain a Minerals Council member given its participation delivered valuable benefits in areas such as health and safety, water management and community engagement.

BHP Billiton chief Andrew Mackenzie.

But it warned it would end its membership if the Minerals Council had not refrained within a year from “policy activity or advocacy” in areas it had “identified material differences”.

BHP, which is led by chief executive Andrew Mackenzie, revealed it gave $1.85 million to the council last year. That sum made up 17 per cent of the lobby group’s total funding.

A growing divide between BHP and the Minerals Council claimed the scalp its former chief executive, Brendan Pearson, who had thrown his support behind building new, high- efficiency coal-fired power stations in Australia.

The Minerals Council, led by chair Vanessa Guthrie, yesterday said BHP had been a “valued member” for many years and “we look forward to that relationship continuing in the future”.

In a sign the group is already moderating its public positioning, interim chief executive David Byers released a statement on Monday noting it would “continue to work with the government in designing policies which reduce emissions, enhance Australia’s international compet-itiveness and begin to lower energy costs”.

BHP will move to end its membership of the World Coal Association, saying it derived limited benefit from the association.

It will write to the US Chamber of Commerce to discuss differences around pricing carbon, emission-reduction targets, its commitment to the Paris climate agreement and the need to limit global warming to 2C, before deciding whether to cut its membership.

BHP will make that decision by the end of March.

The Australasian Centre for Corporate Responsibility said BHP’s decision to exit the World Coal Association was “a good one” but added it had “much more to do to bring memberships into alignment”.

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