A part of our voluntary social investment funds the BHP Billiton Foundation, a charity which aims to make a distinctive contribution to the unprecedented sustainable development challenges facing our generation. The Foundation’s strategy is aligned to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals of most relevance to the resources sector and it works in partnership with other organisations towards shared outcomes.

The Foundation is focused on three global programs:

Natural Resource Governance – because raising standards of governance and transparency is essential to ensuring that the wealth created by the global resources sector helps improve living standards of millions of people around the world.

The BHP Billiton Foundation works with leading civil society organisations and international institutions to promote responsible governance of natural resource wealth. Good governance supports broader sharing of benefits from sustainable and inclusive development which is funded by taxes and royalty payments from the resources sector.

Through the Natural Resource Governance program, the BHP Billiton Foundation is investing in projects that aim to reduce the potential for corruption and bribery across the entire resource value chain – from initial exploration, development and extraction, to the sale and delivery of commodities to customers. These projects will work to provide citizens with access to information that shows the flow of funds related to natural resources in their country.

While transparency underpins good governance, citizens must also be able to understand the data in the public domain as it empowers them to hold institutions to account. Providing more data alone is not sufficient, so the work of the Foundation supports purposeful transparency as a powerful tool to drive positive social change.

The Natural Resource Governance program is aligned to the following UNSDGs:

• Decent work and economic growth
• Industry, innovation & infrastructure
• Peace, justice & strong institutions
• Partnership for the goals

Education Equity – because quality education is the pathway through which people build the skills and knowledge to seize the opportunities to improve their lives and enhance communities and societies.

The BHP Billiton Foundation partners with NGOs and institutions to enable equality of opportunity so more people can realise the power of education to improve life choices, fulfil their potential and contribute to society.

The Foundation’s innovative partnerships across Australia improve educational opportunities and outcomes in science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM) for under-represented groups including girls and Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander peoples. Studying STEM topics fosters innovative thinking and problem solving abilities that will help to address sustainable development challenges.

Over A$55 million has been committed by the Foundation to Australian programs to increase interest and academic achievement in STEM subjects and related professions.

The Education Equity program is aligned to the following UNSDGs:

• No poverty
• Quality education
• Gender equality
• Decent work and economic growth
• Reduce inequalities
• Partnership for the goals

Environmental Resilience – because resilient environments sustain peoples’ cultures, livelihoods and food security, retain biodiversity, maintain water resources, combat climate change and underpin thriving societies around the world.

Sustaining the natural environment that everyone depends upon is one of today’s most pressing challenges. The natural resource needs of the world’s growing population are placing unprecedented pressure on finite land and water resources and accelerating biodiversity loss. Climate change amplifies this challenge.

The BHP Billiton Foundation aims to support the conservation and sustainable use of the natural environment for the benefit of future generations. The Foundation’s Environmental Resilience program will invest in a portfolio of large-scale projects empowering people to manage natural environments to achieve environmental and socio-economic sustainability. These projects aim to improve how the environment is valued, enhance conservation planning and share learnings with others.

The Environmental Resilience program is aligned to the following UNSDGs:

• Clean water and sanitation
• Sustainable cities & communities
• Climate action
• Life below water
• Life on land
• Partnership for the goals

These are complex challenges and that cannot be solved by a single organisation. The Foundation works in a spirit of genuine partnership with like-minded civil society organisations and international institutions to align aspirations behind a common goal and make the best use of collective expertise.

In selecting projects for investment, the BHP Billiton Foundation follows a research-driven and consultative process that draws upon the expertise of individuals and organisations to identify specific issues to be addressed.

Based in the US, the BHP Billiton Foundation has a dedicated Board of Directors and operates consistently with the BHP Billiton Charter values and the BHP Billiton Code of Business Conduct. The Foundation is committed to robust governance and aims to set an example in purposeful transparency by reporting openly on progress in each of its projects.

Read more about the Foundation and its programs here.

BHP Billiton Sustainable Communities

BHP Billiton Sustainable Communities continues to support its multi-year projects that aim to increase social inclusion in Colombia, southern Africa and parts of Australia and this UK-based charity will close at the conclusion of those projects.