ESG
BHP stays hungry As the world’s largest mining company, BHP understands its responsibility to inspire and incite the decarbonisation hunt. And with infrastructure and investments mounting, the company has started to walk the talk.
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ike most mining companies, BHP isn’t dubious about the path ahead. The world needs to decarbonise, and as society’s inherent foundation, the mining industry is going to be at the summit of the renewable energy transition. Validating BHP’s ambitions to reduce its operational emissions by at least 30 per cent by 2030, preceding the ultimate objective of a net zero operation by 2050, are initiatives and innovations to drive down emissions. In 2021, BHP has invested capital into decarbonising its current operations, supporting future advancements and pledging its commitment to organisations committed to developing new-age strategies to combat the stark climate reality. During the 2021 financial year, iron ore made up the highest level of Scope 3 emissions at BHP, producing 260.7 million tonnes of CO2e across this timeframe. By March 2021, BHP had instituted
partnerships with three separate Chinese steelmakers to investigate ways of decarbonising steelmaking, an industry intrinsically fuelled by iron ore. Backing the green innovations of HBIS Group, China Baowu and JFE, BHP had invested a combined $US65 million ($89 million) across the three companies, not to mention its support of Boston Metal’s $US50 million initiative to develop a separate decarbonised passageway for iron ore. BHP chief executive officer Mike Henry says decarbonising steelmaking will offer the mining industry some of its biggest challenges. “With our recent ‘Say on Climate’, we have come out and committed to a target of net-zero Scope 3 for both shipping and the supply into BHP. But of course, that leaves steelmaking out there,” Henry, speaking at the 2021 Financial Times Mining Summit, says.
“Steelmaking is going to be quite hard to decarbonise. That is point number one. With known technology, it is still not economic to do so.” BHP holds a grand position in the world’s steelmaking enterprise, but grandeur doesn’t necessarily lead to regulation. “Point number two is that BHP’s ability to determine that outcome as the seller of product rather than the procurer of product, given the position that we occupy in the industry, is not an absolute or as significant as it would be in the case of shipping or supply into the company,” Henry continues. BHP’s engagement with others in the supply chain demonstrates the company’s belief in collaboration. Its partnerships with HBIS Group, China Baowu and JFE will assist these steelmakers in reducing their Scope 1 and 2 emissions, while BHP in turn works to drive down its Scope 3 emissions.
Image credit: BHP.
BHP’s Nickel West operation in Western Australia.
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