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BHP Group Ltd on Tuesday said it received a notice from a group of shareholders demanding the Australian mining company commit to fighting global warming, citing the Paris Climate Accords.
Shareholders will vote on two climate-focused resolutions at the company's 2022 annual general meeting. BHP's last AGM was in November 2021.
According to management consulting firm Fintel Ventures LLC, BHP has 1,160 institutional owners and shareholders. ‘At least 100’ shareholders are demanding the change.
‘Shareholders request that our company proactively advocate for Australian policy settings that are consistent with the Paris Agreement's objective of limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius,’ the Melbourne-based company explained.
Further, shareholders demand ‘that from the 2023 financial year, the notes to our company's audited financial statements include a climate sensitivity analysis that includes a scenario aligned with limiting warming to 1.5C, presents the quantitative estimates and judgements for all scenarios used, and covers all commodities’.
On Tuesday, the Australasian Centre for Corporate Responsibility filed two resolutions with BHP, advocating for the change.
‘BHP is Australia's largest company with huge political influence and a massive opportunity to align business interests and policy with a safe climate,’ said Harriet Kater, climate lead at ACCR.
She continued: ‘In its 2022 report on the mitigation of climate change, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change identified the influence of the fossil fuel lobby as a major barrier to decarbonisation. The industries with the most to gain from decarbonisation must speak up and counter the policy stranglehold of the oil, gas and coal lobby. BHP remains a member of industry associations that have a toxic influence on Australia's climate policy. This resolution does not let BHP off the hook from also having to constrain the advocacy of those associations.
‘We have already seen members of the liquefied natural gas industry seeking to undermine the safeguard mechanism. BHP must step up as it has a critical role in advocating for comprehensive, effective policy that drives the swift decarbonisation of Australia's industrial sector. ’
BHP shares fell 2.4% to 2,446.00 pence each in London on Tuesday afternoon.
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