resposible release

BHP Billiton Limited ABN 49 004 028 077 BHP Billiton Plc Registration number 3196209
Registered in Australia Registered in England and Wales
Registered Office: 180 Lonsdale Street Neathouse Place
Melbourne Victoria 3000 Australia London SW1V 1BH United Kingdom
Tel +61 1300 55 4757 Fax +61 3 9609 3015 Tel +44 20 7802 4000 Fax +44 20 7802 4111
A member of the BHP Billiton group which is headquartered in Australia
NEWS RELEASE
Release Time IMMEDIATE
Date 18 June 2007
Number 17/07
BHP BILLITON LAUNCHES REVISED CLIMATE CHANGE POLICY
BHP Billiton today outlined its new four-pronged approach to climate change.
In its revised Climate Change Policy, BHP Billiton said it believed accelerated action was
required to stabilise greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere at levels guided by
the research of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. The policy states that BHP
Billiton “will take action within our own businesses and work with governments, industry and
other stakeholders to address this global challenge and find lasting solutions consistent with
our goal of zero harm”.
The four action areas identified in the policy are:
• Understanding emissions from the full life-cycle of our products.
• Improving the management of energy and greenhouse gas emissions across our
businesses.
• Committing US$300 million over the next five years to support low emissions
technology development, internal energy excellence projects and encourage
emissions abatement by our employees and our local communities.
• Using our technical capacity and our experience to assist governments and other
stakeholders on the design of effective and equitable climate change policies
including market-based mechanisms such as emissions trading.
Chief Executive Officer, Chip Goodyear, said BHP Billiton acknowledged that the risks of
climate change associated with increasing greenhouse gas concentrations in the
atmosphere must be addressed.
“BHP Billiton has recognised that our company, as well as society generally, must make real
behavioural changes and accelerate technological progress if we are to achieve a
meaningful reduction in energy use and greenhouse gas emissions.
“Our policy is about trying to play our part as best we can and encouraging those we work
with to do the same,” he said.
The policy includes new targets to reduce the energy and greenhouse intensity of our
products by a further 13 per cent and 6 per cent respectively by 2012. It builds on our
previous achievements, which include a 12 per cent improvement in our greenhouse
intensity over the period 1996 – 2000.
- 2 -
“We are on track to exceed our current target of a further 5 per cent improvement by the end
of this financial year. We have also contributed significantly to research and development in
clean coal technologies, including geosequestration, and have implemented several related
programs across the business,” Mr Goodyear said.
“As a leader in the natural resources industry we have an important role in meeting the
world’s growing energy and resources needs. At the same time, we have an equally
important role in minimising the impact of our activities on the global environment and
supporting our customers’ efforts to do the same”, he said.
BHP Billiton’s Climate Change policy is attached.
Further information on BHP Billiton can be found on our Internet site: www.bhpbilliton.com
Australia
Samantha Evans, Media Relations
Tel: +61 3 9609 2898 Mobile: +61 400 693 915
email: [email protected]
United Kingdom
Mark Lidiard, Investor & Media Relations
Tel: +44 20 7802 4156 Mobile: +44 7769 934 942
email: [email protected]
Jane Belcher, Investor Relations
Tel: +61 3 9609 3952 Mobile: +61 417 031 653
email: [email protected]
United States
Tracey Whitehead, Investor & Media Relations
Tel: US +1 713 599 6100 or UK +44 20 7802 4031
Mobile: +44 7917 648 093
email: [email protected]
Illtud Harri, Media Relations
Tel: +44 20 7802 4195 Mobile: +44 7920 237 246
email: [email protected]
South Africa
Alison GIlbert, Investor Relations
Tel: SA +27 11 376 2121 or UK +44 20 7802 4183
Mobile: +44 7769 936 227
Email: [email protected]
BHP BILLITON’S ACTION PLAN
1. Increase understanding of life cycle emissions of our products
It is essential that we understand the sources, scope and extent of greenhouse gas emissions associated
with our activities:
= We will continue transparent public reporting of our emission profile, including our emissions
from production activities, the use of our fossil fuel products by our customers, and the actions
we undertake to manage and mitigate emissions.
= We will work with experts to improve our understanding of the full life cycle of our products and
strategies for effectively reducing greenhouse gas emissions from their production and use.
2. Improve management of energy and greenhouse gas emissions from production
Some of our businesses are among the most energy efficient in the world. We build on this leading practice
within the Group, using external standards of excellence, to continually improve energy and greenhouse
gas management at our sites. Emissions abatement and energy saving considerations are built into our
decision-making processes, through:
= Business excellence – Our business excellence systems promote and share leading practice and
innovation in energy and operational efficiency to deliver savings in emissions and costs.
= Group targets – We have set energy and greenhouse gas emissions intensity reduction targets
of 13 and 6 per cent respectively for the Group over the period 2006-2012.
= Site based plans and targets – Every site is required to have a greenhouse gas and energy
management plan, including targets that are incorporated into their business plans with
associated monitoring and reporting.
BHP BILLITON
CLIMATE CHANGE POLICY
OVERVIEW
BHP Billiton believes that the risks of climate change associated with increasing greenhouse gas
concentrations in the atmosphere need to be addressed through accelerated action. The actions
should aim to stabilise concentrations at levels guided by the research of the United Nations
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Behavioural change, innovation and technological
progress are necessary to achieve stabilisation in a manner consistent with meeting natural resource
and energy needs. Building on our earlier efforts, we will take action within our own businesses and
work with governments, industry and other stakeholders to address this global challenge and find
lasting solutions consistent with our goal of Zero Harm.
Our actions focus on four areas:
1. Understanding emissions from the full life cycle of our products.
2. Improving the management of energy and greenhouse gas emissions across our businesses.
3. Committing US$300 million over the next five years to support low emissions technology
development, internal energy excellence projects and encourage emissions abatement by our
employees and our local communities.
4. Using our technical capacity and our experience to assist governments and other stakeholders
on the design of effective and equitable climate change policies including market-based
mechanisms such as emissions trading.
= Carbon pricing – We require carbon pricing sensitivity analysis to be undertaken in capital decisions
on assets of US$100 million or more or those that emit greater than 100,000 tonnes of CO2 equivalent
per annum.
= Market trading – We trade emissions reduction instruments as a means of managing our emissions
exposure and assisting our customers to manage their exposures.
= Project-based emissions reductions – We will continue to pursue external projects and other
opportunities that deliver tangible reductions in greenhouse gas emissions and generate credits.
3. Working collaboratively with customers, communities and employees to reduce emissions
and support internal emissions reduction projects, we will commit US$300 million over the
period 2008-2012 to:
= Support industry research, development and demonstration of low emissions technologies including
collaborative research dedicated to accelerating the commercial uptake of technologies such as
carbon capture and geosequestration.
= Provide capital funding for internal energy projects with a greenhouse gas emissions reduction
component that might not otherwise be competitive within our normal capital allocation processes.
= Support the efforts of our employees and our local communities to reduce their emissions.
4. Progressing climate change policy within our sphere of influence
Policy makers have a particularly important role in encouraging actions by all stakeholders and ensuring
a fair distribution of the costs of emissions reduction. BHP Billiton is working with governments and other
stakeholders on the development of policies that provide the necessary incentives and tools for effective,
equitable abatement, including:
= Policies aimed at accelerating the cost effective reduction of emissions.
= Support for market-based mechanisms, provided that the measures are efficient, broad-based
(geographically and cross-industry sectors) and are progressively introduced.
Chip Goodyear
Chief Executive Officer
June 2007