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BIL
BIBLT
BIL - Bhp Billiton Launches Revised Climate Change Policy
BHP Billiton Plc
Share code: BIL
ISIN: GB0000566504
NEWS RELEASE
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.
"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 United Kingdom
Samantha Evans, Media Relations Mark Lidiard, Investor & Media
Tel: +61 3 9609 2898 Mobile: +61 Relations
400 693 915 Tel: +44 20 7802 4156 Mobile:
email: +44 7769 934 942
Samantha.Evans@bhpbilliton.com email:
Mark.Lidiard@bhpbilliton.com
Jane Belcher, Investor Relations Illtud Harri, Media Relations
Tel: +61 3 9609 3952 Mobile: +61 Tel: +44 20 7802 4195 Mobile:
417 031 653 +44 7920 237 246
email: email:
Jane.H.Belcher@bhpbilliton.com Illtud.Harri@bhpbilliton.com
United States South Africa
Tracey Whitehead, Investor & Media Alison GIlbert, Investor
Relations Relations
Tel: US +1 713 599 6100 or UK +44 Tel: SA +27 11 376 2121 or UK +44
20 7802 4031 20 7802 4183
Mobile: +44 7917 648 093 Mobile: +44 7769 936 227
email: Email:
Tracey.Whitehead@bhpbilliton.com Alison.Gilbert@bhpbilliton.com
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.
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.
- 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
emission 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 2008-12 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
Date: 18/06/2007 07:49:07 Produced by the JSE SENS Department. |
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