BHP Group’s operational carbon emissions are set for a “small increase” this financial year, an executive said on Wednesday, as the miner said its path to net zero would not be linear and requires overcoming growth and technology challenges.
The world’s biggest listed miner remains on track to reach its target of reducing operational greenhouse gas emissions by at least 30% from financial year 2020 levels by 2030, vice president for climate Graham Winkelman told an investor briefing.
Actions it is taking to reduce emissions include increasing its use of solar power and decarbonizing its trucking fleet over time.
The miner has been under increasing pressure from investors to set a target for a reduction in emissions from its customers, given steelmaking accounts for about 7% of global carbon emissions but BHP says that number is out of its control.
Instead, BHP’s goal is to support the steelmaking industry to develop technologies and pathways capable of a 30% reduction in emissions intensity, with widespread adoption expected after the end of the decade, the company said.
It plans to support a 40% emissions intensity reduction for BHP-chartered shipping of BHP products.
BHP is depending on technologies that are still being developed to achieve its goals, Dan Heal, vice president of operational decarbonization at BHP’s Australia business, said on the call.
Nine out of 10 of the world’s top global steelmakers include carbon capture utilization and storage (CCUS) in their roadmap to emissions, he said.
(By Melanie Burton; Editing by Muralikumar Anantharaman and Jamie Freed)
