BHP Billiton today outlined its new four-pronged approach to climate change.
In its revised Climate Change Policy, BHP Billiton said it believed accelerated action was
required to stabilise greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere at levels guided by
the research of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. The policy states that BHP
Billiton “will take action within our own businesses and work with governments, industry and
other stakeholders to address this global challenge and find lasting solutions consistent with
our goal of zero harm”.
The four action areas identified in the policy are:
• Understanding emissions from the full life-cycle of our products.
• Improving the management of energy and greenhouse gas emissions across our
businesses.
• Committing US$300 million over the next five years to support low emissions
technology development, internal energy excellence projects and encourage
emissions abatement by our employees and our local communities.
• Using our technical capacity and our experience to assist governments and other
stakeholders on the design of effective and equitable climate change policies
including market-based mechanisms such as emissions trading.
Chief Executive Officer, Chip Goodyear, said BHP Billiton acknowledged that the risks of
climate change associated with increasing greenhouse gas concentrations in the
atmosphere must be addressed.
“BHP Billiton has recognised that our company, as well as society generally, must make real
behavioural changes and accelerate technological progress if we are to achieve a
meaningful reduction in energy use and greenhouse gas emissions.
“Our policy is about trying to play our part as best we can and encouraging those we work
with to do the same,” he said.
The policy includes new targets to reduce the energy and greenhouse intensity of our
products by a further 13 per cent and 6 per cent respectively by 2012. It builds on our
previous achievements, which include a 12 per cent improvement in our greenhouse
intensity over the period 1996 – 2000.
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“We are on track to exceed our current target of a further 5 per cent improvement by the end
of this financial year. We have also contributed significantly to research and development in
clean coal technologies, including geosequestration, and have implemented several related
programs across the business,” Mr Goodyear said.
“As a leader in the natural resources industry we have an important role in meeting the
world’s growing energy and resources needs. At the same time, we have an equally
important role in minimising the impact of our activities on the global environment and
supporting our customers’ efforts to do the same”, he said.
BHP Billiton’s Climate Change policy is attached.
Further information on BHP Billiton can be found on our Internet site:
www.bhpbilliton.com
Australia
Samantha Evans, Media Relations
Tel: +61 3 9609 2898 Mobile: +61 400 693 915
email: Samantha.Evans@bhpbilliton.com
United Kingdom
Mark Lidiard, Investor & Media Relations
Tel: +44 20 7802 4156 Mobile: +44 7769 934 942
email: Mark.Lidiard@bhpbilliton.com
Jane Belcher, Investor Relations
Tel: +61 3 9609 3952 Mobile: +61 417 031 653
email: Jane.H.Belcher@bhpbilliton.com
United States
Tracey Whitehead, Investor & Media Relations
Tel: US +1 713 599 6100 or UK +44 20 7802 4031
Mobile: +44 7917 648 093
email: Tracey.Whitehead@bhpbilliton.com
Illtud Harri, Media Relations
Tel: +44 20 7802 4195 Mobile: +44 7920 237 246
email: Illtud.Harri@bhpbilliton.com
South Africa
Alison GIlbert, Investor Relations
Tel: SA +27 11 376 2121 or UK +44 20 7802 4183
Mobile: +44 7769 936 227
Email: Alison.Gilbert@bhpbilliton.com
BHP BILLITON’S ACTION PLAN
1. Increase understanding of life cycle emissions of our products
It is essential that we understand the sources, scope and extent of greenhouse gas emissions associated
with our activities:
= We will continue transparent public reporting of our emission profile, including our emissions
from production activities, the use of our fossil fuel products by our customers, and the actions
we undertake to manage and mitigate emissions.
= We will work with experts to improve our understanding of the full life cycle of our products and
strategies for effectively reducing greenhouse gas emissions from their production and use.
2. Improve management of energy and greenhouse gas emissions from production
Some of our businesses are among the most energy efficient in the world. We build on this leading practice
within the Group, using external standards of excellence, to continually improve energy and greenhouse
gas management at our sites. Emissions abatement and energy saving considerations are built into our
decision-making processes, through:
= Business excellence – Our business excellence systems promote and share leading practice and
innovation in energy and operational efficiency to deliver savings in emissions and costs.
= Group targets – We have set energy and greenhouse gas emissions intensity reduction targets
of 13 and 6 per cent respectively for the Group over the period 2006-2012.
= Site based plans and targets – Every site is required to have a greenhouse gas and energy
management plan, including targets that are incorporated into their business plans with
associated monitoring and reporting.
