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Social investment

Social investment supports our overall approach to contributing to the creation of social value. We believe we are successful when we work in partnership with communities to achieve long-term social, environmental and economic outcomes.  

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Our strategy
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Our approach and position
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Governance and oversight
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Engagement, disclosure and performance
 

Our approach and position

Whether we are providing support to local farmers in Chile or partnering with Indigenous ranger groups in Australia, social investment is our voluntary contribution towards initiatives that have the primary purpose of contributing to beneficial outcomes for communities and the environment. 

Our social investment performance in the last five years saw BHP fund US$797 million in projects and donations with a continued focus on human capability, economic development, social inclusion and environmental restoration.

Our strategy

We revised our social investment strategy in 2023 to better align with our social value framework and 2030 goals. This strengthens our approach towards partnership, listening and co-creation, and recognises that addressing challenges, such as community and environmental resilience, requires close collaboration with our partners and stakeholders.

The strategy frames BHP’s approach to voluntary social investment across all levels of the organisation and is underpinned by four guiding principles – that social investments are: Integrated and coherent, Enduring, Risk-based and social-value-oriented, and Solution-focused and outcome-driven. 

The strategy aims to contribute to addressing global sustainable development challenges by aligning to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UN SDGs), being guided by the relevant UN Global Conventions and committing to work in partnership with others to achieve shared goals. 

We partner with a diverse range of community groups, national and global institutes, government bodies and non-profit organisations to understand shared sustainable development challenges under our social value framework pillars and associated focus areas. Focus areas (shown in Our approach to social investment below) are the themes each social value pillar will concentrate on to deliver on the 2030 goals. 

We use information gathered in collaboration with our partners and stakeholders and pair it with research in order to plan and prioritise our social investment spend. The four guiding principles outlined above assist our teams to ensure investment opportunities are co-designed and implemented in an equitable manner that respects relevant local customs and contributes to meaningful, lasting change. 

The progress of our social investments is monitored against target outcomes identified for each of the social value framework pillars. Outcomes BHP will contribute to (shown below) are the specific results each pillar aims to achieve when utilising social investment funds. 

Governance and oversight, engagement, disclosure and performance

  • Governance
    For information on the role of the BHP Board in overseeing our approach to and delivery on sustainability refer to our  Sustainability approach webpage. 
  • Engagement 

    As a global company, we operate in diverse jurisdictions and interact with various community and non-government organisations, government bodies and research institutions. Through regular engagement with our stakeholders and research into environmental, workforce, community and supply chain concerns, we seek to understand, manage and respond to the expectations, priorities and risks faced in each of these areas. 

     

    At the local and regional scale, our Community and Indigenous Engagement team members are closely connected with our partners in the communities where we operate and engage to understand their priorities and challenges. At the national and global scale, the Sustainability and Social Value function and subject matter focused technical functions connect with industry bodies, think tanks and research organisations to understand challenges related to our industry that often transcend national boundaries, such as climate change, human rights and public health crises. We recognise the significance of two-way dialogue in highlighting concerns and perspectives and considering stakeholder perspectives is a core element of our approach. For more information on our engagement refer to our Local communities webpage.   

  • Disclosure  

    Monitoring and evaluation are fundamental to our global social investment approach. We use a suite of metrics designed to aggregate and report performance against our social investment focus areas aligned to each social value framework pillar. We consistently assess and quantify the outcomes and impact of our Group-wide social investment.

     

    Our total social investment is internally monitored and verified each quarter, then externally assured annually and publicly disclosed in our Annual Report and Economic Contribution Report, and as relevant in our Modern Slavery Statement.

  • Performance 

    Our voluntary social investment in FY2024 totalled US$136.7 million BHP equity share and resulted in the accomplishments shown below1. This investment consisted of:

    • US$102.4 million in direct funding for initiatives in line with our social value framework
    • US$15.2 million to non-operated joint venture social investment programs
    • US$1.8 million under the BHP Matched Giving Program
    • US$12.5 million in administrative costs to facilitate direct social investment activities3
    • US$6.4 million supported the operations of the BHP Foundation 

    1 Social investment outcomes indicator reporting is sought for project and donations >US$100,000.

    2 The BHP Foundation is a charitable organisation established and funded by BHP, which works in partnership with internationally recognised institutions, think tanks and non-government organisations to address some of the most critical sustainable development challenges facing society that are directly relevant to the resources sector. 

    3 The direct costs associated with implementing social investment activities, including labour, travel, research and development and communications.

     
  • Other 

    Matched Giving Program

    We are proud to support the organisations that are important to our employees. Through our Matched Giving Program, BHP matches personal donations made by our employees to eligible not-for-profit organisations at a ratio of 2:1, meaning that for every dollar donated by our employees BHP donates two dollars.

     

    Our Matched Giving Program currently features over 100 eligible organisations around the world, with their official chapters (if applicable) in other locations also eligible.  

Sustainability case studies, organisational boundary, definitions and disclaimers, and downloads

Prior year versions of some of the listed documents are available on the Past reports page.