Atlassian boss Mike Cannon-Brookes calls out BHP on climate

Billionaire Mike Cannon-Brookes has demanded BHP suspend its ties with lobby groups such as the Minerals Council of Australia.

Atlassian Mike co-founder and chief executive Mike Cannon-Brookes. Picture: Getty Images

Billionaire Mike Cannon-Brookes has switched his climate crusade to one of the nation’s biggest corporate targets, demanding BHP suspend its ties with lobby groups such as the Minerals Council of Australia.

BHP chief executive Andrew Mackenzie warned in a landmark speech in July that the world’s dependence on fossil fuels posed an ­“exist­ential” risk to the planet, with climate change escalating towards crisis point.

But a group of powerful investors with $140 billion of assets under management have since rounded on the world’s biggest miner through a shareholder resolution calling for a freeze to its funding of pro-fossil-fuel lobbyists, which they describe as a source of increasing frustration for shareholders.

Mr Cannon-Brookes, the co-chief executive of tech giant ­Atlassian, said he ­remained suspicious of BHP’s ­efforts to boost its environmental record.

“Until BHP stops funding for coal lobbyists, we’re extremely sceptical of their environmental or green credentials,” he said.

The resolution was lodged on Tuesday by the Australasian Centre for Corporate Responsibility in partnership with Mr Cannon-Brookes’s private invest­ment company, Grok Ventures, the Church of England, Dutch fund Actiam and Australian fund Vision Super.

It called for BHP to suspend its membership of industry associations whose lobbying activities were inconsistent with the goals of the Paris climate agreement.

Mr Cannon-Brookes — who last year started a renewable ­energy movement dubbed Fair Dinkum Power — pledged support this week for September 20’s “climate crisis” strike led by youth activists, encouraging Atlassian staff to take part.

The ACCR pushed BHP last year to axe its membership of the World Coal Association and it put the Minerals Council on ­notice by calling for it to tone down its lobbying for coal over other ­energy sources.

BHP declined to comment on Tuesday but it is expected to publicly respond by Thursday to the shareholder resolution.

The ACCR said BHP continued to prop up lobby groups advocating for coal at the same time as Mr Mackenzie delivered his climate speech.

“While Andrew Mackenzie was giving his vaunted speech on BHP’s new approach to climate, BHP’s paid lobbyists were shopping for a $5m coal advertising campaign, a blatant trans­gression of BHP’s stated ­expect­ations,” ACCR executive director Brynn O’Brien said.

“ACCR has met with BHP on multiple occasions, and we have given them a long list of examples of adverse climate lobbying by their industry associations. The company does acknowledge that there is a serious issue but has been unable or unwilling to ­resolve it.”

Mr Mackenzie said in his speech BHP would extend its climate change policy to include monitoring and trying to influence its customers’ carbon emissions, and would tie its executive pay packets to the success of reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

While not promising BHP would exit the coal industry, as its chief rival, Rio Tinto, has done, he hinted at a possible move on its coal portfolio next year when BHP releases its next “climate portfolio analysis”, examining the impact of global warming on its products.

Minerals Council chairwoman Helen Coonan subsequently struck a defiant note on BHP’s push, arguing that agitators ­rather than big investors were spearheading the push and companies would make their own call whether to follow the mining giant’s lead.