While the primary focus of environmental management at BHP’s operations is to prevent environmental impacts, we recognise that impacts cannot always be avoided. In these cases, remediation actions like rehabilitation and offsets may be required. Increasingly, our reputation is also reliant on making investments beyond our operations that deliver broader environmental and social outcomes.

Through collaboration with The Nature Conservancy, Conservation International and other external partners, the Valdivian Coastal Reserve project in southern Chile has raised the bar for conservation outcomes globally. It demonstrates how conservation can improve biodiversity, climate change mitigation and community livelihoods. By applying a business model with appropriate financing mechanisms and multiple revenue streams, the project will deliver sustainable outcomes for the long term.

The approaches to collaboration, engagement, management practices, governance and finance mechanisms created through this project have application more broadly throughout BHP. The learnings from this project have informed BHP’s Our Requirements for Environment and Climate Change standard and other BHP conservation investments.