Our latest disclosures

Our most recent climate-related disclosures and performance data can be found in the BHP Climate Transition Action Plan 2024, BHP Annual Report 2024, Operating and Financial Review 6.9 - Climate change and BHP ESG Standards and Databook 2024.

Our operational GHG emissions target and goal

Our projected pathway to our medium-term target

We are on track to meet our medium-term target for operational greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Our pathway is challenging yet realistic and reflects current technology maturity, our increased production ambition and early investment to support our long-term goal.

There are significant challenges ahead in achieving our medium-term target as we: 

• Increase our production of commodities in line with expected increases in demand to support decarbonisation and other global megatrends 
• Adjust to the changing profile of extraction and production at our operated assets, where we expect resource depletion to require us to mine more deeply, more remotely and with greater energy intensity 
• Work with original equipment manufacturers to help accelerate development and increase confidence in options for electric mining equipment/vehicles to displace diesel, most of which are early-stage and not yet ready to be deployed 
• Prepare to manage the risk associated with significant changes to our operations from adopting diesel displacement solutions and integrating renewable electricity resources

Our projected pathway to our medium-term target, as shown in the chart below, is expected to set us up well for greater GHG emission reductions after FY2030 through the following actions: 

• Procuring renewable and other low to zero GHG emissions electricity 
• Working to minimise the increase in operational GHG emissions from organic production growth and new operational sites
• Accelerating development and reducing risk exposure to diesel displacement solutions through testing and sequenced deployment 
• Pursuing solutions to abate fugitive methane emissions

Our potential pathway to our long-term net zero goal

Our potential pathway to our long-term net zero goal beyond FY2030, as shown in the chart below, requires us to: 

• Displace diesel via electric mining equipment/ vehicles (e.g. haul trucks, locomotives, excavators, shovels) 
• Procure additional renewable and other low to zero GHG emissions electricity to support the increased amount of electricity required for electric mining equipment/vehicles 
• Minimise fugitive methane emissions to the greatest extent technically and commercially viable, through enhanced application of existing or emerging technology

Many of the technologies we will need to achieve our long-term net zero goal are not yet ready to be deployed. A pathway between our medium-term target in FY2030 and our long-term net zero goal in CY2050 will require a significant technological step change in safety, reliability, productivity, availability and economics. 

The ‘range of uncertainty’, as shown in the chart below, reflects the potential for additional GHG emission reductions from options we have currently identified, including possible options to increase the scale or pace of GHG emissions abatement. These options may enable faster or more substantive reduction of GHG emissions, but they also currently have a relatively low technology readiness, higher operational integration risk and/or are not yet commercially viable. 

We believe there are sufficient encouraging developments in the market, including with our suppliers, to identify a challenging but feasible potential pathway to our long-term net zero goal. We are working closely with suppliers to accelerate the readiness of new technologies in this decade, including several planned pilots and proof of concept trials primarily as alternatives for diesel-consuming mining equipment/vehicles.

Expenditure to support operational decarbonisation

We estimate up to US$4 billion (nominal terms) in spend and commitments over the decade to FY2030 to execute our operational decarbonisation plans. This incorporates capital expenditure and lease commitments that were previously expected to be classified as capital expenditure. Our estimate represents incremental capital spend and lease commitments of the lower GHG emissions option above ordinary business as usual spend or commitment (e.g. the additional cost of an electric truck versus a diesel combustion truck). 

The majority of our capital expenditure profile in this decade is weighted towards diesel displacement and weighted towards the late 2020s. 

While some of our operational GHG emission reduction projects have a higher degree of delivery certainty, we also continue to study and progress projects that have a lower degree of certainty. As we progress necessary studies, we will learn more, and our estimates of our spend and commitments to FY2030 and beyond will evolve over time. 

Our estimated spend and commitments will support our projected pathway to our medium-term target and our potential pathway to our long-term net zero goal. However, most of our estimated spend and commitments prior to FY2030 is focused on advancing diesel displacement solutions via electric mining equipment/vehicles. This would not significantly impact operational GHG emissions by FY2030 and we expect our estimated spend and commitments to more significantly impact operational GHG emissions post-FY2030.

The role of offsetting

Our plan is to meet our medium-term target for operational GHG emissions through structural GHG emissions abatement instead of offsetting. We will not use regulatory carbon credits (i.e. those used for compliance under regulatory schemes, such as the Safeguard Mechanism in Australia) to meet our medium-term target. In addition, in our projected pathway, we have not planned to use voluntary carbon credits to meet our medium-term target. However, if there is an unanticipated shortfall in our pathway, we may need to use voluntary carbon credits that meet our integrity standards to close the performance gap.

Based on what we know today, we estimate we can reduce our gross operational GHG emissions by up to around 85 per cent against FY2020 levels by CY2050 (adjusted for acquisitions, divestments and methodology changes), without the use of offsetting. This is based on the projected improvements to the technologies we need, the nature of our business and the GHG emissions profile of our operations (particularly fugitive methane emissions). We believe a feasible pathway to net zero operational GHG emissions will require the use of some offsetting.

GHG emissions intensity rankings of our commodity production

For CY2023, the GHG emissions intensity of our production of our commodities is estimated to rank in the first quartile for our iron ore, copper and steelmaking coal mines, and the second quartile for our nickel operations (ahead of all Indonesian-based operations) of global mining operations analysed by CRU. This analysis is based on CY2023 data from CRU (as CRU data is prepared on a calendar year basis), and includes CRU’s assumptions and estimates of BHP’s operations. We transitioned to using CRU (rather than Skarn Associates) for this analysis in FY2024 as part of an annual vendor assessment and selection process. For more information on how GHG emissions intensity of our production of our commodities has been calculated and compared, refer to the BHP ESG Standards and Databook 2024.