Our ambition  

Our vision is to contribute towards global efforts to halt and reverse nature loss and collective goals on water security, environmental resilience, business resilience and social value.¹

Our 2030 Healthy environment goal is to create nature-positive² outcomes by having at least 30 per cent of the land and water we steward³ under conservation, restoration or regenerative practices by FY2030. Our focus is on areas of highest ecosystem value, within and outside our own operational footprint, in partnership with Indigenous peoples and local communities. 

Our approach and position  

We recognise that to help enable the energy transition, critical minerals production will need to increase; and it will be essential that this production meets high standards of environmental stewardship.  

As stewards of the land and waters on and around our operational and non-operational sites, we are working to enable systems to better support our approach to environmental performance of our operations, and to manage risks (threats and opportunities) from both our impacts and dependencies on nature. We also take actions to contribute towards nature-positive² outcomes through our 2030 Healthy environment goal, and seek to address the water challenges shared by BHP and other stakeholders in the regions where we operate.

Through our Climate Transition Action Plan 2024, Water Stewardship Position Statement and our Group-level biodiversity strategy, we outline our vision, strategies and focus areas to support action on these global challenges. Specific information about our water, climate and biodiversity approach and position can be found at the Water webpage, Biodiversity and land webpage and Climate change webpages. For more information on BHP’s 2030 goals refer to the BHP Annual Report 2024, Operating and Financial Review 6.5 – 2030 goals. 

In line with Our Values, key company position statements (e.g. the Water Stewardship Position Statement) and Group-wide standards, we seek to avoid or minimise adverse environmental impacts through every stage of our operational activities and acknowledge our role in contributing more broadly to the resilience of the natural environment. We also recognise our environmental performance and management of environmental impacts on the communities where we operate are important parts of our contribution to social value. We are supportive of global efforts to halt and reverse nature loss,  global efforts to halt and reverse nature loss, which includes progressively assessing and disclosing our risks, impacts and dependencies on nature and taking appropriate actions to contribute towards nature-positive outcomes through our 2030 Healthy environment goal.

More specifically, our approach to environmental management is based on and influenced by:

• the identification, assessment and management of risks (threats and opportunities, impacts and dependencies) across all phases of our operational life cycle, including exploration, development, operation, closure and post-closure. BHP applies a Group-wide Risk Framework to identify and manage risks, including environmental risks
• engagement with internal and external stakeholders to ensure we take their perspectives and knowledge into account in our decision-making 
• the realms of nature (land, oceans, freshwater and atmosphere) that we may impact or depend on
• the five key drivers of nature loss (changes in land and sea use, direct exploitation of natural resources, pollution, climate change, invasive species), as outlined by the United Nations environment programme (UNEP)
• the extent and nature of our planned activities and optimising our activities to seek to minimise or prevent adverse impact and maximise contribution to social value
• societal risks, such as habitat loss and pollution

Our Group-wide approach to environmental management is set out in the Environment Global Standard and our mandatory minimum performance requirements for risk management to deliver on our commitments and to manage environment-related risks. These standards require us to take an integrated, risk-based approach to managing any actual or reasonably foreseeable impacts (direct, indirect and cumulative) and dependencies on biodiversity, land, water and air. We establish and implement monitoring and review practices designed to ensure continued management of environment-related risk within our risk appetite through business planning and project evaluation cycles. For more information on BHP’s Risk Framework refer to the BHP Annual Report 2024, Operating and Financial Review 8 – How we manage risk and Sustainability-related Risk Management webpage. 

Our primary approach to preventing or minimising our potential adverse environmental impacts within our operational footprint is to apply the mitigation hierarchy (avoid, minimise, rehabilitation and/or apply compensatory actions). This approach allows us to, if necessary, minimise and rehabilitate any unavoidable impacts. At every stage in the life cycle, our operated assets are required to put in place controls and plans that reflect the mitigation hierarchy, as detailed in the Environment Global Standard, to manage environmental impacts in line with our defined Risk Appetite Statement. This includes the application of our frameworks, policies and processes, including governance, assurance and risk management.

Steps one and two of the mitigation hierarchy – avoid and minimise – seek to prevent or minimise adverse impacts. Steps three and four – rehabilitation and compensate – seek to reduce residual impacts that cannot be avoided or minimised within target. If required after application of the first three stages of the mitigation hierarchy, compensatory actions or biodiversity offsets will be identified and implemented by seeking conservation gains of the same value to achieve no-net-loss of biodiversity overall. For example, in our Western Australia Iron Ore (WAIO) asset, environmental approval documentation for the Western Ridge area included a mining exclusion zone around critical Ghost Bat roosting habitat to avoid direct impacts.

In addition, we use our Environmental Management System (EMS), to implement our approach to environmental management, as well as drive continuous improvement in our environmental performance. 

The Environment Global Standard mandates the use of an EMS that aligns with the global environmental management framework ISO 14001. 

Beyond our BHP footprint, we commit to making voluntary contributions in support of environmental resilience across the regions where we operate through social investment, on-ground action and thought-leadership.

Our Healthy Environment Goal

We have set and are now focusing on the steps required to achieve our 2030 Healthy environment goal that are designed as part of our contribution towards the global efforts to reduce and/or reverse nature loss.

Our 2030 Healthy environment goal, announced in 2022, is to create nature-positive² outcomes by having at least 30 per cent of the land and water we steward³ under conservation, restoration or regenerative practices by the end of FY2030. Our focus is on areas of highest ecosystem value, both within and outside our own operational footprint, in partnership with Indigenous peoples and local communities.

Our 2030 Healthy environment goal was developed in anticipation of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework. We focus our activities in support of achieving this goal on the large areas of non-operational land we steward, as this land offers the greatest opportunity for us to apply conservation, restoration or regenerative practices at a larger scale. Our Healthy environment goal and the mitigation hierarchy are considered as part of the factors we use to inform management approaches for our operational and non-operational areas.  

The key metrics to track progress on delivery of the 2030 Healthy environment goal are: 

• the area under nature-positive management practices⁴  
• the number of our operated assets with a natural capital account⁹

Our 2030 Healthy environment goal is supported by successive short-term milestones that will be developed over the seven-year period. Our initial milestones for FY2023 were to complete mapping of important biodiversity and/or ecosystems (IBE) for operated assets in Minerals Australia and Minerals Americas, and to publish context-based water targets (CBWTs). These short-term milestones were completed, and more information can be found at our Biodiversity and land webpage and our Shared water challenges webpage respectively.  

To meet the FY2024 short-term milestone for the Healthy environment pillar of our social value scorecard, we have developed a Group-level framework for nature-positive plans to achieve the 2030 Healthy environment goal (BHP Healthy environment goal roadmap).⁵ We intend to assess the potential opportunities identified in the BHP Healthy environment goal roadmap to inform business decisions designed to enable BHP to progress towards our 2030 Healthy environment goal. 

The BHP Healthy environment goal roadmap was developed using a targeted version of the TNFD’s LEAP approach as outlined below:  

• Locate your interface with nature: We utilise our FY2023 Healthy environment goal milestone to complete important biodiversity and ecosystems (IBE) baseline mapping for all land and water areas.³ 
• Evaluate your dependencies and impacts on nature: We include a qualitative listing of nature-related impacts and dependencies.
• Assess your nature-related risks and opportunities: For each threat or opportunity, a high-level materiality assessment was completed. Materiality was assessed according to our mandatory minimum performance requirements for risk management, which specify impact ranges for determining materiality in the context of risk event severity, including severity of nature-related risks.  Opportunities were prioritised based on the extent to which ecological value can be conserved, regenerated, or restored in non-operational land areas. 
• Prepare to respond to, and report on, material nature-related issues: We plan to collect data within a nature metrics framework that will enable our current and future nature-related disclosures. The framework has been developed using the broad structure of the CSIRO Natural Capital Handbook, to give a holistic coverage of nature-related issues, with more specific guidance on each issue with reference to the requirements of evolving global nature-related frameworks.

As at 30 June 2024, we had 83,012 hectares or 1.62 per cent⁶ of the land and water that we steward^3,8 under nature-positive management practices⁴ compared to 79,718 hectares or 1.56 per cent at the end of FY2023⁷. The FY2024 area under nature-positive management practices⁴ has increased by 3,295 hectares (or 4.13 per cent) since FY2023. 

The increase in area under nature-positive management practices in FY2024 compared to FY2023 is due to: the inclusion of areas under nature-positive management practices at the former OZ Minerals operation Carrapateena and the West Musgrave project, not included in our FY2023 reporting; an additional regulatory conservation area at one of BMA’s assets in FY2024; and BMA’s divestment of the Blackwater and Daunia mines⁸, resulting in these areas, including some areas reported in FY2023 as under nature-positive management practices⁴, being excluded from the land and water we steward³. 

The calculation for the area under nature-positive management practice includes areas under regulatory and voluntary conservation and restoration, and regenerative agriculture. A breakdown of this can be found in the BHP ESG Standards and Databook 2024. We plan to continue to assess, validate and disclose material information regarding the Healthy environment goal calculation methodology, in consideration of evolving external frameworks and stakeholder expectations. 

Specific examples of activities that contribute to our reported FY2024 areas under nature-positive management practices include: 

• Voluntary conservation: approximately 11,936 hectare, predator-proof fenced Arid Recovery reserve is located adjacent to our Olympic Dam operation. Surrounded by BHP-owned pastoral lands, Arid Recovery’s vision is ‘to return species from threatened to thriving in the arid zone’. This is done through applied research, on ground conservation and management, and outreach activities. Arid Recovery is supported by a range of partners in a range of different ways. BHP has supported Arid Recovery since its inception in 1997 (initially as Western Mining Corporation, then as BHP since 2005). Under the current partnership agreement, BHP contributes approximately two-thirds (63 per cent) of Arid Recovery’s income annually.
• Regulatory conservation: In February 2024, BHP relinquished 8,431 hectares of our Nickel West Yakabindie pastoral lease for amalgamation into the Wanjarri Nature Reserve (the Reserve). The Reserve is managed under a Joint Management Body with Tjiwarl AC native title holder group and the Western Australia government. This relinquishment was subject to a 2011 Land Swap Agreement, initiated by BHP (prior to Tijwarl determination in 2017) to enable a mining lease to be granted over 758 hectares excised from the Reserve, which has been utilised to support Mount Keith Satellite (Yakabindie) operations since 2019. As part of the Land Swap Agreement, BHP agreed to ensuring the conservation values of the area designated to become part of the Reserve were maintained. BHP fenced and destocked the area and managed it to ensure no physical disturbance, maintaining the conservational value of the land. An important step prior to the land surrender was the establishment of the Tjiwarl Palyakuwa Indigenous Land Use Agreement, between the Western Australia Government and Tjiwarl AC in FY2023, which referenced the expansion of the Wanjarri Nature Reserve. 
• Regulatory conservation: In South Australia, approval to clear vegetation is generally contingent upon the proponent providing a management plan that creates a Significant Environmental Benefit (SEB). The primary aim of the SEB is to achieve a net environmental gain, which contributes to improving the biodiversity values of the region, rather than simply off-setting the vegetation clearance. Our Olympic Dam operation manages the approximately 10,960 hectare Gosse Springs and the approximately 38,000 hectare Emerald Springs SEB areas, implementing and reporting on management actions as agreed with the Native Vegetation Council. These include fencing, exclusion of domestic stock, large feral herbivore control, monitoring, feral animal and invasive species control.

The calculation for the area under nature-positive management practices⁴ includes areas under regulatory conservation, voluntary conservation and restoration, and regenerative agriculture. It includes areas that BHP has stewarded at some point between the date of reporting and the start of FY2023, but has transitioned stewardship to others (e.g. Indigenous peoples, governments). The transition must include a requirement for the area to be managed under nature-positive management practices,⁴ with the above Wanjarri Nature Reserve transfer being the only example to date.  

A breakdown can be found in the BHP ESG Standards and Databook 2024, available at bhp.com/sustainability. We will seek external validation of our methodology in FY2025, in consideration of evolving external frameworks and stakeholder expectations.

For information on work we are undertaking to value, measure and monitor natural capital refer to the Biodiversity and land webpage.

<sup>1. Such as relevant United Nations Sustainable Development Goals and international agreements such as the Kunming Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework.
2. Nature-positive is defined by the TNFD Glossary version 1.0 as ‘A high-level goal and concept describing a future state of nature (e.g. biodiversity, ecosystem services and natural capital) which is greater than the current state’. We understand it includes land and water management practices that halt and reverse nature loss – that is, supporting healthy, functioning ecosystems. BHP intends to review this definition in FY2025, in light of the recently revised TNFD Glossary version 2.0 (June 2024) definition of nature positive.
3. This excludes areas we hold under greenfield exploration licences (or equivalent tenements), which are outside the area of influence of our existing mine operations. 30 per cent will be calculated based on the areas of land and water that we steward at the end of FY2030. 
4. Nature-positive management practices refer to an area under stewardship that has a formal management plan that includes conservation, restoration or regenerative practices. For more information refer to the BHP ESG Standards and Databook 2024.
5. The BHP Healthy environment goal roadmap is intended to apply to our operated assets in Australia, Chile and Canada. Due to the acquisition of OZ Minerals and prioritisation of activities based on risks and impacts, Carrapateena, Prominent Hill, West Musgrave and legacy assets are currently out of scope for the roadmap; with the exception of West Musgrave, these assets are planned to be incorporated into the roadmap in FY2025. Incorporation of West Musgrave into the BHP Healthy environment goal roadmap will be reviewed following the decision to temporarily suspend the Western Australia Nickel operations.
6. 1.62 per cent is calculated based on the areas of land and water that we stewarded (excluding areas we hold under greenfield exploration licences (or equivalent tenements) and subject to footnote 7) at 30 June 2024 – which was approximately 5,125,935 hectares; an increase of approximately 18,750 hectares compared to approximately 5,107,185 hectares at 30 June 2023.
7. FY2023 values are a restatement of our previously reported 1.3 per cent and 82,132 hectares. The restatement from 82,132 to 79,718 hectares under nature-positive management practices for FY2023 is due to a change in our methodology and associated definitions; with FY2023 values being reported based on GRI Biodiversity 2016 304-3 definitions. The restatement from 1.3 per cent to 1.6 per cent area under nature-positive management practices3 is primarily due to approximately 1.5 million hectares of greenfield exploration licences, which are located outside the area of influence of our existing mine operations, being incorrectly assigned to the ‘the land and water we steward’2 component of the Healthy environment goal calculation in FY2023.
8. While some of the land related to the Daunia and Blackwater mines is pending transfer following BMA’s divestment of these mines on 2 April 2024, these areas are no longer under BMA’s control or operated for BMA’s benefit so have been excluded from the areas of land and water we stewarded at 30 June 2024. 
9. Natural capital accounts are a way to measure the amount, condition and value of environmental assets in a given area. It helps describe changes in ecosystems and how these impact wellbeing and economies.</sup>

Risk

Our processes to identify, assess and manage environment-related risks are undertaken in line with BHP’s Risk Framework. For details refer to the BHP Annual Report 2024, Operating and Financial Review 8 – How we manage risk.

For information on water-related risks refer to the Water webpage. 

Case studies