Access to drinking water one of the top two challenges facing the world: BHP boss

BHP chief Andrew Mackenzie says access to drinking water and global warming are the top two challenges facing the world.

The board of BHP at the company’s AGM in Adelaide today. Picture: AAP

BHP chief Andrew Mackenzie says a growing population and, possibly, climate change are making access to drinking water one of the top two challenges facing the world (along with global warming), and that the mining industry should treat water policy as seriously as climate, safety and tailings dams policy.

After BHP’s (BHP) Adelaide annual general meeting today, the mining boss expanded on previous comments he had made about water being a top-two challenge for humans.

“When you step back and look at a growing population in the world, and possibly some water stress through changing climate patterns which may be related to CO2 emissions, you come to the conclusion you need to find ways to access a much greater amount of potable or desalinated water in order to sustain the quality of life that we have,” Mr Mackenzie said.

“It’s a big deal and it’s particularly a big deal in areas of water stress which may get more stress if you look at most of the forecasts from IPCC (International Panel on Climate Change).

Mr Mackenzie said BHP had taken sector leadership on the issue by building the Southern Hemisphere’s biggest desalination plant for its Escondida copper mine in Chile and powering a lot of its energy requirements through solar power.

“I’ve been a champion, with others, within the industry as a whole that we take water policy as seriously as we take climate policy or our policy on safety or more recently, tailing dams,” he said.

Tailings dams are front of mind for the industry after the tailings dam burst at BHP’s half-owned Samarco iron ore mine in Brazil, killing 19 people and causing widespread environmental damage.