A shareholder group has panned BHP Group Ltd (ASX: BHP)’s climate change plan.
The mining giant this week revealed its plans to reduce its operational greenhouse gas emissions by at least 30% from 2020 to 2030.
Investor advocacy body Australasian Centre for Corporate Responsibility (ACCR) stated BHP needs to “go back to the drawing board”.
“BHP fails to deliver any meaningful outcomes in terms of actual emissions reduction. It needs to try harder,” said ACCR climate director Dan Gocher.
“BHP should be aiming for a 40-60% reduction in all of its emissions by 2030.”
While BHP chief executive Mike Henry claimed the targets are in line with the Paris Agreement, the ACCR didn’t share that view.
Gocher said “most climate scientists” would also disagree.
“BHP is… cynically using FY2020 as a baseline, rather than a historical, lower number,” he said.
“BHP may have finally given up on thermal coal but it and its industry associations are still betting heavily on gas — which is proven to have the same, if not worse emissions than coal once fugitive methane emissions are factored in.”
BP did it, so why can’t BHP?
The method of reducing emissions was also criticised.
“BHP continues to rely on unproven and horribly expensive carbon capture and storage (CCS) to decarbonise its Scope 3 emissions, rather than simply leaving fossil fuels in the ground.”
British energy conglomerate BP plc (LON: BP) promised last month that it would no longer explore for oil and gas in new countries. Gocher said that this showed it’s possible.
“Anything less than a commitment from BHP to cap then reduce production of fossil fuels over the coming decade is simply inadequate,” he said.
“BHP’s US$400 climate investment program hasn’t changed since July 2019, and is dwarfed by the $US8 to US$9 billion it was planning to spend on oil and gas projects before the COVID-19 pandemic struck.”
BHP also announced that executive remuneration would be tied to the delivery of its climate plan.
“We must focus on what we can control inside our business, and work with others to help them reduce emissions from the things that they can control,” Henry said.
“Our actions must be of substance.”
These 3 stocks could be the next big movers in 2020
When investing expert Scott Phillips has a stock tip, it can pay to listen. After all, the flagship Motley Fool Share Advisor newsletter he has run for more than eight years has provided thousands of paying members with stock picks that have doubled, tripled or even more.*
In this FREE STOCK REPORT, Scott just revealed what he believes are the 3 ASX stocks for the post COVID world that investors should buy right now while they still can. These stocks are trading at dirt-cheap prices and Scott thinks these could really go gangbusters as we move into ‘the new normal’.
Find out the names of our 3 Post COVID Stocks – For FREE!
*Returns as of 6/8/2020
More reading
- Brokers name 3 ASX shares to buy right now
- IGO share price surges on potential sale of Tropicana
- Why the Rio Tinto share price is outperforming its peers
- An all-weather ASX resources shares strategy
- Why you should use the market sell-off to buy these ASX stocks
Motley Fool contributor Tony Yoo has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Scott Phillips.
The post BHP’s climate plan is rubbish: shareholder group appeared first on Motley Fool Australia.
from Motley Fool Australia https://ift.tt/3hkbXwa
Leave a Reply